25 000 Francs CFA - Bokassa I Essai

Jean-Bédel Bokassa proclaimed himself Emperor of the Central African Empire in December 1977, staging a coronation modeled on Napoleon's that cost an estimated $20–30 million — roughly one-third of the country's annual budget, partially funded by France. This essai was struck in the window between that proclamation and his overthrow by French paratroopers in September 1979, during Operation Barracuda. The regular circulation issue never materialized in meaningful quantities, making trial pieces like this the primary numismatic record of a monetary program that effectively died with the empire itself.