BURKINA FASO - CENTRAL BANK OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (BCEAO) ISSUE
WILDLIFE PROTECTION SERIES - THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT
EXTREMELY RARE ESSAI (TEST STRIKE) PATTERN - ONE YEAR TYPE
ONLY 85 MINTED!
GOLD TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FRANCS CERTIFIED BY NGC MINT STATE 66
OBV: NATIONAL ARMS DIVIDES DATE.
REV: FACING FULL STANDING AFRICAN ELEPHANT; DENOMINATION ALONG EDGE RIGHT.
THE AFRICAN NATION OF BURKINA FASO IS A MEMBER OF THE WEST AFRICAN ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION (UEMOA) ALONG WITH SEVEN OTHER WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES, BENIN, GUINEA-BISSAU, IVORY COAST, MALI, NIGER, SENEGAL AND TOGO. EACH MEMBER STATE USES THE WEST AFRICAN CFA FRANC AS COMMON CURRENCY, AND EXCEPT FOR THE FORMER PORTUGUESE COLONY OF GUINEA-BISSAU, WERE FORMER COLONIES OF FRENCH WEST AFRICA. IN 2007, THE COMMON CENTRAL BANK (BCEAO) ISSUED THE STRIKING WILDLIFE PROTECTION SERIES OF ESSAI PIECES IN EXTREMELY LIMITED MINTAGES, A DIFFERENT ANIMAL FEATURED FOR EACH MEMBER COUNTRY.
THIS COIN DEPICTS THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT (LOXODONTA AFRICANA), ALSO CALLED THE SAVANNA OR BUSH ELEPHANT, IS THE LARGEST LIVING LAND ANIMAL. THE LARGEST RECORDED AFRICAN ELEPHANT WAS MEASURED AT FOUR METERS TO THE SHOULDERS AND WEIGHED TEN METRIC TONS.
ELEPHANTS ARE ALSO ONE OF THE EARTH'S MOST INTELLIGENT ANIMALS, RIVALLING PRIMATES AND CETACEANS, AND EXHIBIT A WIDE RENGE OF EMOTIONS AND TALENTS USUALLY ATTRIBUTED TO HUMANS SUCH AS HUMOR, ART, TOOL USE, COMPASSION, GRIEF AND POSSIBLY LANGUAGE AMONG OTHERS.
IVORY POACHING IS THE GREATEST THREAT TO THESE ANIMALS. IN 1990 THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY PLACED A BAN ON IVORY TRADING, BUT THE POACHING CONTINUES TO PLAGUE ELEPHANT POPULATIONS. IN CHAD, A 1970 POPULATION OF 400,000 ELEPHANTS DROPPED TO 10,000 BY 2006 BECAUSE OF POACHING, AND IN KENYA THE POPULATION DROPPED BY 85 PERCENT IN A SIXTEEN YEAR PERIOD.
BURKINA FASO HAS THE LARGEST POPULATION OF AFRICAN ELEPHANTS IN WEST AFRICA.
KM # NOT LISTED
CONTAINS .25 OUNCE OF GOLD
22 MM IN DIAMETER
ONLY 85 MINTED!
