500 Francs Hoplite

The "Hoplite" belongs to a long-running wave of African-issued commemoratives struck almost entirely for the European and North American collector market — coins that will never see Cameroon, priced at multiples of their face value before they leave the mint. Pobjoy and other contracted private mints have handled much of this production over the decades, with the issuing authority lending its name and legal tender status to designs it had no hand in conceiving.

At 15.55 mm diameter for a 28-gram piece, the geometry here is notably thick — closer to a puck than a coin.