Ruanda-Urundi 10 Centimes

The Ruanda-Urundi 10 Centimes coin was struck from aluminum, a material so light that a pocketful could barely weigh down a colonial administrator's trousers.

Introduced in 1923 under Belgian rule, this coin featured a simple design with the Belgian lion on one side and the denomination on the other, reflecting the territory's status as a League of Nations mandate. We don't know exactly how many were produced each year, as mint records from that era are spotty, but production continued until 1960, just before independence. Aluminum was chosen for its low cost and resistance to corrosion in tropical climates, a practical decision that saved the colonial mint some expense.

The coin circulated in what is now Rwanda and Burundi, serving everyday transactions in a region with little prior currency tradition. While some claim it symbolized oppression, that's more rhetoric than reality; it was just money, plain and simple.