Catalog
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| Issuer | Benin (1975-date) |
|---|---|
| Year | 2016 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 41 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | EGYPT TOURMALINE |
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| Additional information |
Benin's franc CFA coinage has been issued under the West African Economic and Monetary Union since the country's 1975 reorganization from the former Republic of Dahomey, with the Central Bank of West African States — the BCEAO — controlling all monetary policy for the eight-member zone. Individual member states retain the right to issue commemorative and collector pieces, though these carry no practical circulation function within the union.
The Egyptian tourmaline embedded in this piece was sourced from the Sinai Peninsula and the Eastern Desert mines, regions with documented mineral extraction dating back to Pharaonic times. Tourmaline from these deposits carries a distinctly variable color saturation depending on trace element concentration — no two stones are identical.