25 Francs CFA FAO, Essai

Issuer	Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO)
Year	1980
Type	Log in to see details
Value	Log in to see details
Currency	Log in to see details
Composition	Log in to see details
Weight	Log in to see details
Diameter	Log in to see details
Thickness	Log in to see details
Shape	Log in to see details
Technique	Milled
Orientation	Log in to see details
Engraver(s)	Log in to see details
In circulation to	Log in to see details
Reference(s)	Log in to see details

Obverse description	Central design features the stylized head of a West African antelope rendered in a bold, graphic style, superimposed over the large numeral '25' in the field. The legend 'BANQUE CENTRALE DES ETATS DE L'AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST' runs along the full periphery. The denomination 'FRANCS' appears below the central motif, and the word 'ESSAI' (trial) is inscribed in the lower field, indicating the pattern status of the piece. The overall composition reflects the modernist graphic style characteristic of mid-twentieth-century Francophone African coinage.
Obverse script	Log in to see details
Obverse lettering	Log in to see details
Reverse description	Log in to see details
Reverse script	Log in to see details
Reverse lettering	Log in to see details
Edge	Reeded
Mint	Log in to see details
Mintage	Log in to see details
Additional information	The FAO series issued by the BCEAO in the late 1970s and early 1980s was produced in direct response to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's coin program, which encouraged member nations to mint pieces promoting agricultural development themes. Essai pieces from this program were struck in very limited numbers — typically fewer than a few hundred — for distribution to official agencies, central bank archives, and specialist collectors, never entering general circulation. KM#E9 remains thinly documented in the major references.