1500 Francs CFA Frederick the Wise

Frederick III of Saxony earned his epithet not through battlefield glory but through a calculated refusal to hand Martin Luther over to Rome following the Diet of Worms in 1521 — a decision that gave the Reformation time to take root across northern Europe. Togo's issuance of this piece belongs to the wave of small-format gold coins produced by the Monnaie de Paris under licensing arrangements with francophone African states, many of which had no domestic minting capacity whatsoever.

Frederick never met Luther in person.