5 Cents Copper-nickel

This is a coin of French Equatorial Africa, struck at Paris during the interwar colonial administration. The Monnaie de Paris produced this series for circulation across the federation — covering present-day Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon — territories where consistent small-denomination coinage had historically been scarce. Copper-nickel was a deliberate choice: it resisted tropical humidity better than bronze and was already familiar from metropolitan French issues.

Production ran across fifteen years but was far from continuous, with gaps in striking that correspond to budgetary constraints within the colonial administration rather than any mint-side disruption.