Catalog
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| Issuer | Institut de Développement de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (IDAO) |
|---|---|
| Year | 2005 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 10.1 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Within the copper-nickel centre, a detailed frontal portrait of an African elephant is superimposed over an outline map of West Africa. The denomination 4 AFRICA appears in the lower field of the centre below the elephant and map design. The brass outer ring bears the circumferential legend EMISSION MONETAIRE DE L'INSTITUT DE DEVELOPPEMENT DE L'AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST, punctuated by the acronym IDAO, running around the full periphery. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Institut de Développement de l'Afrique de l'Ouest was not a sovereign state but a development organization, which makes this coinage an oddity — privately authorized fantasy issues denominated in units with no legal tender backing in any recognized jurisdiction. The "4 Africa" denomination is effectively invented currency, produced for the collector market under the guise of a commemorative series tied to the 2008 Beijing Games. X# catalog numbers designate exactly this category: coins issued by non-governmental entities that fall outside standard national coinage systems.