Catalog
5000 Francs Nelson Mandela
| Issuer | Banque Nationale du Rwanda |
|---|---|
| Year | 1990 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1964-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE NATIONALE DU RWANDA CINQ MILLE FRANCS REPUBLIKA Y`U RWANDA LIBERTÉ-COOPÉRATION-PROGRÈS 5000 (Translation: National Bank of Rwanda. Five thousand francs. Republic of Rwanda. Liberty - Cooperation - Progress.) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | NELSON MANDELA BG 1990 |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Rwanda issued this coin in 1990 while Mandela was still imprisoned on Robben Island — he would not be released until February of that year, and this piece was almost certainly struck before or concurrent with that release, making the timing politically charged in ways the issuing authority likely calculated carefully. For a landlocked central African nation with no direct historical ties to South Africa, the choice of Mandela as subject was a deliberate act of pan-African solidarity.
The .999 fineness places it among the purer gold commemoratives of the period, when many sovereigns were still issuing at .900.