500 Francs Year of the Rabbit

Rwanda's Year of the Rabbit issues were part of a broader wave of Chinese lunar calendar coins struck for the collector market by African nations with minimal connection to the subject matter — a licensing arrangement that generated hard currency for the issuing authority while the actual minting was contracted to private European or Asian mints. The Banque Nationale du Rwanda had no domestic silver mining or minting infrastructure to speak of.

KM#89 was struck in a limited proof edition aimed squarely at the international bullion-collector crossover market, 2011 being the Year of the Rabbit in the sexagenary cycle — the same year that cycle last aligned in 1963.