25 Francs CFA

The BCEAO replaced the old Institut d'Émission de l'Afrique Occidentale Française et du Togo in 1962, becoming the common monetary authority for the newly independent Francophone West African states. The CFA franc itself was never severed from the French franc — it remained pegged at 50 CFA to 1 franc throughout this entire decade, a fixed rate that France guaranteed and the member states could not unilaterally alter.

The Paris Mint struck the bulk of these issues under standing production agreements with the BCEAO. Aluminium bronze was chosen for its resistance to the corrosive humidity of the Gulf of Guinea coastal economies where these coins circulated hardest.