Catalog
1 Kwacha
| Issuer | Bank of Zambia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1969 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | Portrait vignette of President Kenneth Kaunda at right, rendered in intaglio against a fine guilloche underprint. The national arms appear at upper centre, flanked by the denomination numeral K1 in each upper corner. The central legend reads 'I PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND ONE KWACHA FOR THE BANK OF ZAMBIA', with the Governor's signature below. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central agricultural vignette showing a farmer operating a tractor ploughing a field, with a team of oxen and a herdsman visible in the middle ground, framed by decorative foliate borders of tropical vegetation at left and right. The denomination K1 appears in all four corners within plain panels, and the bank title is printed at the top centre. |
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| Comments |
Zambia's first post-independence currency series replaced the Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound, and by 1969 the Bank of Zambia was still consolidating its monetary infrastructure under the stewardship of Valentine Musakanya, who served as Governor during a period of significant copper-revenue expansion. The Kwacha itself had only been introduced in 1968, making this a very early note in the new decimal system — the name drawn from the Nyanja word for "dawn."
De La Rue supplied the full series, as they did for a large number of newly independent African states in this period. The Zulu and Musakanya signature combination is specific to a narrow window of issue.