Ivory Coast's authority to issue commemorative coinage in CFA francs has long been questioned by monetary purists, since the West African CFA franc is administered by the BCEAO — a regional central bank — not by individual member states. These small gold pieces were produced largely for the collector market and never circulated, a pattern common to Ivorian commemorative issues of the mid-2000s that frequently depicted subjects with no direct connection to the country.
Ivory Coast's authority to issue commemorative coinage in CFA francs has long been questioned by monetary purists, since the West African CFA franc is administered by the BCEAO — a regional central bank — not by individual member states. These small gold pieces were produced largely for the collector market and never circulated, a pattern common to Ivorian commemorative issues of the mid-2000s that frequently depicted subjects with no direct connection to the country.