5000 Francs CFA King of the Arctic; reverse plaster pattern

Plaster patterns — galvanos and working models — rarely escape the mint or the engraver's studio. When they do surface, provenance is everything, and the chain of custody from the atelier to the market is almost never clean. This piece precedes any struck version and would have been used to transfer the design mechanically to a working hub or die.

Ivory Coast's high-denomination CFA fantasy and collector issues of recent years are produced largely through European private minting contractors, not through the BCEAO's own facilities.