5 Francs Guinéens

Guinea's 1985 coinage program coincided with the country's difficult transition following the death of Sékou Touré in March 1984 and the subsequent military coup that ended 26 years of his authoritarian rule. The new regime, the Comité Militaire de Redressement National, inherited a currency system in severe disarray — Touré's isolationist economic policies had left the Guinean franc effectively unconvertible and the banking infrastructure hollowed out.

Brass-clad steel was a practical concession to budget constraints the transitional government could not avoid.