5 Dinars 2005 Coup d'état 18th Anniversary, Arabic legend

Tunisia's "Coup d'état" commemorative series is notably candid by the standards of official coinage — few governments mint gold coins that openly name the mechanism by which the current leadership came to power. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali seized control on November 7, 1987, deposing Habib Bourguiba by invoking a medical incapacity clause, with a team of doctors signing a certificate of senility. The date became a national holiday rebranded as the "Change," and Ben Ali minted it aggressively.

This 2005 issue marks the 18th anniversary of that event. Ben Ali would be ousted himself in January 2011, the first leader toppled by the Arab Spring, rendering the entire commemorative series an accidental chronicle of a finished regime.