10 Francs Elephant, rhodium

Rhodium is the rarest of the platinum-group metals and one of the most volatile in spot price — it briefly exceeded $29,000 per troy ounce in early 2021. Rwanda's issuance of a rhodium-struck coin is less a monetary instrument than a vehicle for collectors chasing elemental completeness, as rhodium's extreme hardness and brittleness make it genuinely difficult to coin at any scale. Very few sovereign mints have struck rhodium pieces at all.