Africa - Coins of Burundi

BURUNDI

Two things..
A Look at Burundi's Coins
The 2011 Dated Coins of Burundi

A Look at Burundi's Coins

Burundi had much German influence in the early part of the twentieth century, then Belgian influence between the two world wars. Burundi was under foreign control no longer when the second world war came to an end, this was when then region became a U.N. Trust Territory. Upon gaining full independence on the 1st of July 1962, Burundi became a kingdom.
There is just one circulation coins of this period for Burundi, it is the 1 Franc of 1965. The other obtainable coins of the Kingdom of Burundi are Gold commemoratives, some commemorating independence and other commemorating the 50th anniversary of the reign of King Mwambutsa IV. (A reminder that a territory can have a leader they call king even if he does not have sovereign powers.)

Burundi 5 Francs 1968 (Black and White as Aluminium "colours" never seem to work).

A military coup in 1966 led to the establishment of the Republic of Burundi. The first coins for this period were gold commemortives. The first circulation coins of the Republic of Burundi were the 5 and 10 Francs of 1968. The 1 Franc denomination was introduced in 1970. New 1 and 5 Franc types were intoduced in 1976. A collection by date of these circulation coins of the Republic of Burundi would only amount to 12 coins.

Burundi 5 Francs 1968
Burundi 1 Franc 1993.

The newest coin I know of for Burundi is the 1993 date of the 1 Franc. Since that time the country has been at war to some degree or other.

Five of the 12 circulation coins (by date) of Burundi have designs that include mint marks of some sort or other.

Brussels mint marks on Burundi 5 Francs 1968
Close up of the privy marks of the Brussels Mint (bird and angel's head) on the Burundi 5 Francs 1968.

The first 5 Franc type includes the privy marks of the Belgian Mint (Brussels). These appear on all three dates (1968, 1969 and 1971).

The "PM" mint mark of the Pobjoy Mint on a Burundi 1 Franc 1993.

The two most recent of the four dates of the second 1 Franc type (i.e. dates 1990 and 1993) include the "PM" mint mark of the Pobjoy Mint. The SCWC currently omits to mention that the 1993 pieces has this mint mark - but my image is proof of that being an error on their part. (The image is a close up of the same coin as appear in the image earlier on this page of the two sides of this coin.). The position of the "PM" mint mark in relation to the coat of arms on this Burundi type, is very similar to the position in which the "PM" mint mark appears on the recent coins of the Seychelles in relation to the coat of arms on those coins.

The 2011 Dated Coins of Burundi

In 2009 I got a new date of the Burundi 1 Franc – “2003PM”. This was the first Burundi circulation coin since the 1 Franc “1993PM”. Next came two new “2011” dated coins; they first appeared on the collector market around October 2011. They are new types; the first is 10 Francs and the second is 50 Francs.

Here is the Burundi 10 Francs 2011 (actual size 27mm)

The obverse design is similar to that of the older 10 Franc coins (those of 1968 and 1971). French and Kirundi are used; these are Burundi’s two official languages. The outer legends are [French] “BANQUE DE LA REPUBLIQUE DU BURUNDI” and [Kirundi] “IBANKI YA REPUBLIKA Y’UBURUNDI” these each translate as “Bank of the Republic of Burundi” the name of the Burundi’s central bank. Within these words is [Kirundi] “UBUMWE IBIKORWA AMAJAMBERE” and within that [French] “UNITE TRAVAIL PROGRESS” each of these phrases translates as “Unity Work Progress” which is the country’s motto. Also on the obverse, the denomination appears as “10F” as does the date “2011”.

The reverse of the 10 Francs is as previously used (an FAO design featuring different food crops), this includes central “10F”, with no real space for a date.

Here is the Burundi 50 Francs 2011 (actual size 29mm)

This is a new circulation denomination for Burundi. The obverse design is very similar to that of the 10 Francs 2011, the main differences being that the date is not included; the denomination is “50F” and this appears in a smaller size of text.

The reverse of the 50 Francs is a new design and features a drum and a drummer. The date “2011” is included. Also within this design is the denomination written in abbreviated form “50F”, then in French words “CINQUANTE FRANCS” and then in Kirundi words “AMAFARANGA MIRONGO ITANU”. These Kirundi words for the denomination are these same as the Kinyarwanda words used for the denomination on the 50 Franc coins of 2003 and 2011 from neighbouring Rwanda.

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Added "The 2011 Dated Coins of Burundi" at Dec-2013.