In 1841 the sultan of the island of Maore (Mayotte) offered his island to the French government; the offer was formally accepted in 1843, and the island became a French colony. In 1886 the three remaining islands, having been subjected at various times to English, German and Zanzibar-Omani influences, became French protectorates.
Ngazidja, under the protectorate, was the first island to issue its own coins: a series of three denominations minted on behalf of Sultan Said Ali.

In 1908 the administration of all four islands was attached to that of the French colony of Madagascar and in 1912 all four islands became a province of the Colony of Madagascar and used the French coinage circulating in that colony. However, shortages of coin during this period led to the principal colonial company on Ngazidja issuing a series of tokens. A sugar plantation on Mayotte did likewise. More recently the operator of the two resort hotels on the island of Ngazidja (Grancde Comore) have also issued a token for use in their casinos.

In 1908 the administration of all four islands was attached to that of the French colony of Madagascar and in 1912 all four islands became a province of the Colony of Madagascar and used the French, and later Madagascar banknotes circulating in that colony.

Despite the fact that the islands regained administrative autonomy in 1946 as the French territory of the Archipel des Comores, they continued to use the coins and banknotes of Madagascar.  Following the independence of Madagascar in 1960 the banknotes were, however, still used in the Comores, and were overprinted "COMORES" for this purpose.

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It was not until they were granted self-government in 1962 (an event that followed the independence of Madagascar in 1960 and saw the islands using the coinage of foreign country for four years) that the French administration felt it necessary to issue the first colonial series of specifically Comorien coins in 1964.

In 1975 the government of the islands unilaterally declared independence following a referendum which indicated that the majority on three of the islands supported it; on the fourth island, Mayotte, the majority were against independence, and when the French administration finally recognised Comorien independence and severed all colonial links, they did so only on the three western islands.  Mayotte remains under French control to this day and uses French coins and notes.

In the independent republic, however, new coins and new banknotes were issued almost immediately, and a new series of post independence coinage and banknotes gradually replaced the colonial series and the banknotes of the Banque de Madagascar et des Comores over a number of years.

 50 KMF
PROOF 1975 & FDC
1975 KM 9

In 1976, as a revenue-raising exercise, a prestige series of silver and gold coins were produced.

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SILVER 1/4 EURO ESSAI 2004  FDC
The obverse of the silver 1/4 Euro pictures Louis Oscar Roty, while the reverse shows a vignette from his 1893 silver medal Maternité (Maternity).
SILVER 1 1/2 EUROS ESSAI 2004  FDC
The battleship Bouvet is on the 1 1/2 Euro.  In 1915 she hit a mine and sunk in under 2 minutes, with a loss of 660 men.
GOLD 20 EUROS ESSAI 2004 FDC

The gold 20 Euro features a pair of  Brown Lemurs on the reverse.  The arms of Mayotte is on the obverse of both the 1 1/2 and 20 Euro.