History

Following the occupation of eastern Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

 by French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 forces, the French franc

French franc

The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...

 was introduced as currency to replace the German mark

German mark

The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...

. This was augmented from 1922 by local issues of paper money and by local coins from 1924. In 1958, the coins of French Equatorial Africa

French Equatorial Africa

French Equatorial Africa or the AEF was the federation of French colonial possessions in Middle Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River to the Sahara Desert.-History:...

 were issued with the name "Cameroun" added to the legend. Since then, the CFA franc

Central African CFA franc

The Central African CFA franc 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...

 of the Equatorial, then Central African States has circulated, first in French Cameroun, then the whole of Cameroon following unification with the British Southern Cameroons

Southern Cameroons

Southern Cameroons was the southern part of the British Mandate territory of Cameroons in West Africa. Since 1961 it is part of the Republic of Cameroon, where it makes up the Northwest Province and Southwest Province...

.

Coins

In 1924, aluminium-bronze 50 centimes, 1 and 2 francs coins were introduced and were struck until 1926. These were the only coins issued until 1943, when the Free French issued bronze 50 centimes and 1 franc. Aluminium 1 and 2 francs were issued in 1948. (Thgis needs correcting. Camerounian 25 Franc coins exist)

Since the introduction of the CFA franc

CFA franc

The CFA franc is the name of two currencies used in Africa which are guaranteed by the French treasury. The two CFA franc currencies are the West African CFA franc and the Central African CFA franc...

, Cameroon has issued 50 francs in 1960, 100 francs since 1966 and 500 francs since 1985.

Banknotes

In 1922, 50 centimes and 1 franc notes were issued by the government. These were the only notes issued specifically for French Cameroun.

In 1961, the Central Bank issued notes in denominations of 1000 and 5000 francs, followed in 1962 by 100, 500 and 10,000 francs. From 1974, the Bank of the Central African States has issued notes in the name of Cameroon.