25 Francs Barbary sheep, gold essai

Niger's essai coinage of 1968 was produced in the years following independence from France, when the newly sovereign state was issuing trial pieces — many struck at the Paris Mint — largely for collector sale rather than circulation. These essais were a common revenue mechanism for Francophone African nations during this period, and most never entered general use. The Barbary sheep, native to the Saharan and sub-Saharan regions Niger spans, was a deliberate assertion of local fauna over the colonial imagery that had preceded it.

KM# E1 designation confirms this as the first essai type recorded for Niger.