2000 Ekuele Masie Nguema Biyogo; Essai; Aluminium

Masie Nguema Biyogo was the birth name of Francisco Macías Nguema, who renamed himself — and the island of Bioko — after seizing power following independence from Spain in 1968. By 1978, when this essai was produced, his regime had already killed or exiled roughly a third of the country's population and was widely considered among the most brutal dictatorships in postcolonial African history. The following year he was overthrown by his nephew Teodoro Obiang in an August coup, tried, and executed by firing squad.

Essais of this denomination are pattern strikes intended for government or mint approval rather than circulation. Obiang's coup rendered the entire Masie Nguema coinage program obsolete almost immediately after these trials were struck.