Catalog
50 Francs
| Issuer | Banque Nationale du Rwanda |
|---|---|
| Year | 1964-1976 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a regional map of Rwanda with provincial names and geographic features including Lac Kivu inscribed, set against a guilloche underprint in blue-grey tones. The bank title "Banque Nationale du Rwanda" appears in script lettering at the top, with the denomination "CINQUANTE FRANCS" in bold intaglio print to the right, overlaid on an ornate rosette guilloche. Two signature lines below the map are captioned "Administrateur" and "Gouverneur", with the date 1-1-76 and the legal warning "LA LOI PUNIT LE CONTREFACTEUR" printed in the lower field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Left-centre intaglio vignette of a miner in a hard hat in the foreground, with a group of workers engaged in mining operations visible in the middle ground. A large guilloche rosette with the numeral "50" occupies the right side. The bank title in Kinyarwanda appears at the top, and the denomination "AMAFRANGA 50" is printed in bold at the lower centre. |
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| Comments |
Rwanda's first banknote series — this denomination among them — was introduced following the country's 1964 departure from the monetary arrangement it had briefly shared with Burundi after independence. The Banque Nationale du Rwanda had only been established in 1964, making this an early institutional note issued by a central bank still finding its footing.
Thomas De La Rue handled the printing throughout the series run, a typical arrangement for newly independent African states with no domestic printing infrastructure. The security thread specification is notably basic for the period, even by De La Rue's own standards on contemporary African contracts.