5000 Francs CFA Smilodon

Burkina Faso has issued coins through the Monnaie de Paris and various private minting houses under licensing arrangements that have little to do with domestic monetary policy — these large-format silver pieces circulate nowhere and exist entirely for the collector market. The Smilodon, an extinct genus that died out roughly 10,000 years ago, had no presence on the African continent, making its appearance on a Burkinabè coin a matter of commercial theme selection rather than any historical or regional connection.