Senegal uses the West African CFA Franc as its circulation currency, together with seven other states in West Africa which make up the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA; Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger and Togo. The currency is issued by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO; Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest), and - unlike for example the Euro - its coins are not marked with an individual country of issue.
Some of the member countries however issue non-circulating collector and commemorative coinage, which Senegal has been doing since 1968. Some of these coins are in the internationally popular half gram (0.5g) of gold mini-coin collector format - such as this one.
This coin is part of the the Extinct Predators Series, and is dedicated to Varanus Priscus (Megalania). It is a "companion coin" to the silver ounce with a similar design which was issued for Congo.
Megalania was a species of giant monitor lizard, part of the megafauna that inhabited Australia during the Pleistocene. It is the largest terrestrial lizard known to have existed, reaching an estimated length of 3.5 to 7 metres, and weighing up to 1,940 kg, but the fragmentary nature of known remains make estimates highly uncertain.
Megalania is thought to have had a similar ecology to the living Komodo dragon. The youngest fossil remains of giant monitor lizards in Australia date to around 50,000 years ago. The first indigenous settlers of Australia might have encountered Megalania, and been a factor in their extinction.
Judging from its size, it would have fed mostly upon medium- to large-sized animals, including any of the giant marsupials such as Diprotodon, along with other reptiles and small mammals, as well as birds and their eggs and chicks. It had heavily built limbs and body, a large skull complete with a small crest between the eyes, and a jaw full of serrated, blade-like teeth. Being a member of Anguimorpha, Megalania may have been venomous and if so, would be the largest venomous vertebrate known. |
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The obverse of the coin shows at its centre the Coat of Arms of Senegal. This consists of a shield divided vertically into two parts: in the left half, a standing lion; in the right part, a baobab tree below which a wavy line representing the Senegal River. Above the shield, a five-pointed star.
The shield is surrounded by palm leaves tied with a ribbon, on which the national motto is inscribed: UN PEUPLE, UN BUT, UNE FOI (translated from French: "One People, One Goal, One Faith"). Below the ribbon, the five-sided pendant of the National Order of the Lion.
Around above, the name of the issuing country in French (its official language): RÉPUBLIQUE DU SÉNÉGAL (Republic of Senegal).
Around below, the nominal face value 250 FRANCS CFA (two hundred and fifty West African CFA Francs). |
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