Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque Nationale du Rwanda |
|---|---|
| Year | 1998 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Giesecke & Devrient, Leipzig |
| Designer(s) | 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 | The right half of the obverse is dominated by an intaglio vignette of a group of mountain gorillas amid lush green foliage, set against a landscape underprint with a volcanic mountain silhouette. A large guilloche rosette occupies the left centre, incorporating a hexagonal 'R' security device, with two signature lines below captioned '2nd VICE-GOUVERNEUR' and 'GOUVERNEUR', and the italic legend 'Payable à vue' in the lower field. Denomination numerals '500' appear in large green figures at lower left and upper right, with the date '1.12.1998' at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | BANKI NASIYONALI Y'U RWANDA ITEGEKO LIHANA UMUNTU WESE UZIGANA IYI NOTI MUSEE NATIONAL AMAFARANGA 500 |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The 1998 series marked a deliberate reconstruction of Rwandan currency infrastructure in the aftermath of the genocide, during which the existing money supply had been severely disrupted — looting of the Banque Nationale's reserves and the collapse of normal commerce had left the pre-1994 note stock badly compromised. Giesecke & Devrient, by then operating from their Leipzig facility following German reunification, had become a preferred supplier for central African issuers rebuilding from political rupture.
Pick 26 replaced the earlier 500-franc notes that had circulated through the catastrophic events of 1994. The security specification is modest by later standards — watermark and a single security thread — reflecting budget constraints typical of post-conflict monetary reconstruction rather than any technical shortcoming on G&D's part.