Brief Historical Notes on Rwanda

According to the CIA Website:

In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions, culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but several thousand remained in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; the former Zaire) and formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the RPF tried in 1990. Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in August and September 2003 - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output, and ethnic reconciliation is complicated by the real and perceived Tutsi political dominance. Kigali's increasing centralization and intolerance of dissent, the nagging Hutu extremist insurgency across the border, and Rwandan involvement in two wars in recent years in the neighboring DRC continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts to escape its bloody legacy

Specifications

Denomination	Diameter	Weight	Alloy	AGW
10 Francs	19	3.75	0.900	0.1085
25 Francs		7.50	0.900	0.2170
50 Francs		15.0	0.900	0.4340
100 Francs	34	30.0	0.900	0.8681
2000 Francs	22	7.80	0.999	0.2500
5000 Francs	27	15.53	0.999	0.5000

Key
Diameter = Approximate Diameter in millimetres.
Weight = Weight in grams.
Alloy = Fineness of gold.
AGW = Actual fine gold weight in troy ounces.

Prices & Availability
The prices quoted in the US $ column may be out of date due to currency fluctuations.

Date	Denomination	Description	Mintage	Grade	Availability	Price £	Price $
				Uncirculated	Wanted	Ask	Ask

Postage & Packing
UK Registered Post (Special Delivery) £9 per order
EU Insured Post £10 per order
USA Airmail $10 per order
USA Insured Shipping $20 per order

Rwandan Silver and Base Metal Coins
For silver and base metal coins of Rwanda, please look at our original Chard Coins website.

Coins Wanted
We make an active market in almost all world coins, gold or otherwise, including Rwandan gold coins. If you have any of these coins to sell, please contact us, or post them to us for appraisal and offer.