5000 Francs Georges Pompidou - essai

Gabon's 1971 essai series was produced as part of the broader post-independence monetary infrastructure overseen by the Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale, which coordinated currency trials across the member states of the CFA franc zone. Essais of this type were struck in limited quantities by the Paris Mint primarily for administrative approval and collector distribution — they were never submitted for general circulation.

Pompidou died in office in April 1974, making this a short-lived portrait issue for the zone.