In 2022 the face of a nineteen-year-old heroine of the war of independence appeared on an Algerian circulating coin: this 50 dinars is dedicated to Hassiba Ben Bouali.

Hassiba Ben Bouali was born in 1938 in El Asnam (today Chlef) and at 16 joined the General Union of Algerian Muslim Students, later entering the ranks of the National Liberation Front. In October 1957, at the height of the Battle of Algiers, French forces blew up her hideout in the Casbah; Ali La Pointe and two other comrades died with her. Her story entered Gillo Pontecorvo’s film «The Battle of Algiers».

The portrait side shows the heroine with the years 1938 and 1957, and the date of issue is given in three calendars at once: Hijri, Gregorian and Berber. The other side carries a large stylised numeral 50 and the Arabic inscription «Bank of Algeria». The coin is bimetallic, with a stainless steel centre inside a ring of yellow alloy.

For an Algeria collection it is one of the commemorative circulating coins of recent years, and for a thematic collection it is the portrait of a real figure of the anti-colonial struggle, known far beyond her country thanks to cinema.

Condition UNC: the coin has never circulated, there is no wear and the mint lustre is preserved; only minor storage marks are acceptable. The portrait and the contrast of the two metals appear as the issuer intended.

Coins from the VPcoins catalogue are collected by seasoned numismatists and newcomers alike.