1500 Francs CFA Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

The Ivory Coast has no historical or geographical connection to the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, and these large-format commemoratives were produced explicitly for the collector market — never intended for circulation. The series exploited a legal quirk allowing the BCEAO's member states to authorize non-circulating legal tender issues independently, making them nominally valid while practically serving as bullion novelties sold through European distributors.

The original structure at Halicarnassus — completed around 350 BC and destroyed by successive earthquakes between the 12th and 15th centuries — gave English the word "mausoleum" directly from the name of the Carian satrap Mausolus it was built to honor.