25 Francs Maliens

Mali's 1961 coinage was among the first issued after independence from France in September 1960, when the short-lived Mali Federation — which had briefly joined Senegal — collapsed and the Republic of Mali established its own currency to break from the CFA franc zone. The decision was economically costly; Mali's exit from the franc zone isolated it from French financial support, and the new Malian franc struggled almost immediately.

The country eventually rejoined the CFA franc zone in 1984, making this entire coinage series a footnote to a failed monetary experiment lasting barely two decades.