500 Francs Lemur

The Bank of Central African States issues coinage on behalf of six member nations — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon — under a monetary union whose franc zone arrangements trace back to the 1972 Brazzaville treaty. These collector issues are produced under contract by outside mints rather than by any facility within the member states themselves, a practical reality that has defined BEAC's numismatic output since the union's inception.

The lemur is endemic to Madagascar, which is not a BEAC member state.