50 Francs Pattern

The Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique Équatoriale et du Cameroun was itself a transitional institution — created in 1959 to manage the CFA franc across Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, and Gabon as each moved toward independence from France. This pattern was struck in 1960, the precise year four of those five territories formally achieved sovereignty. Whether the design was ultimately rejected on political or practical grounds is unrecorded, but the timing makes clear it was caught in a rapid reshuffling of issuing authority.

Patterns from this issuer are scarce by nature; production numbers for essais and patterns were typically tiny, often fewer than a hundred pieces struck for official examination.