20 Centimes FAO, Obverse trial

This piece was produced in connection with the FAO coinage program, a United Nations initiative that ran through the 1970s encouraging member nations to issue coins promoting food production and agricultural development. Algeria's participation reflected the Boumediene government's broader agrarian reform policies of that period, including the 1971 nationalization of French-owned farmland. A gold trial striking of a 20-centime denomination is an anomaly — the circulating issue was base metal — suggesting this was produced as a presentation or test piece rather than anything intended for commerce.