5000 Francs Independence

Cameroon achieved independence from French administration on January 1, 1960, and the anglophone Southern Cameroons voted to federate with the new republic in a 1961 UN plebiscite — a union that created ongoing political tensions still unresolved decades later. Gold commemoratives of this period were issued primarily for international sale rather than domestic circulation, a common practice among newly independent African states seeking hard currency and diplomatic visibility simultaneously.

KM#20 is part of a suite of gold issues tied to the tenth anniversary of independence.