30 000 Francs CFA Gorilla

Benin has no indigenous gorilla population. The use of the species here is purely commercial — these large-format silver kilos were produced in the late 1990s specifically for the European collector and bullion market, with Benin's issuing authority functioning essentially as a licensing arrangement rather than any reflection of national monetary need. The CFA franc was pegged to the French franc at the time, making a 30,000 CFA denomination a face value of roughly 300 French francs — nominal against the silver content.

KM#A36 is one of several oversized issues from this period where attribution to Benin is nominal at best. The actual minting was contracted to European private mints.