500 Francs CFA Albrecht Dürer

The BCEAO has issued commemorative silver pieces under the CFA franc umbrella since the 1990s, contracting European mints to produce collector items with no plausible circulation intent for member states — Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, and others — that have no historical or cultural connection to the subject being honored. Dürer died in Nuremberg in 1528, nearly four centuries before France established the franc zone that would eventually become the CFA system.

These issues are effectively licensed collectibles sold into the European and Asian numismatic market, using West African monetary authority as a convenient issuing vehicle. KM#60 is one of dozens of such types from this period.