Congo, Republic of the: Coins Issued and Used

The Central African CFA Franc (French: franc CFA or simply franc, ISO 4217 code: XAF) is the currency of six independent states in central Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

CFA stands for Coopération financière en Afrique centrale ("Financial Cooperation in Central Africa"). The franc is nominally subdivided into 100 centimes but no centime denominations have been issued. The CFA franc was introduced to the French colonies in Equatorial Africa in 1945, replacing the French Equatorial African franc. The Equatorial African colonies and territories using the CFA franc were Chad, French Cameroun, French Congo, Gabon and Ubangi-Shari. In 1960 French Congo declared independence from France and became the Republic of the Congo.

Unlike the Euro coinage - which is issued by each member country separately - the CFA Franc has both common and national issues. All common circulating coins are issued under the authority of CEMAC ("Communauté Économique et Monétaire de l'Afrique Centrale" - Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa) and have no issuing country. Separately, each member country can strike coins bearing its national symbols; these coins are legal tender in the other members of the bloc too, and are usually commemorative or bullion coins not intended for general circulation.