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100 Gems - December birthstone tanzanite
| Issuer | Tanzania |
|---|---|
| Year | 2023 |
| Type | Fantasy banknote |
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| Obverse description | Art Nouveau-style vignette of a red-haired female figure set within a floral and foliage wreath underprint at left. At centre-right, a rendered tanzanite gemstone in a decorative setting with its chemical formula below. Guilloche panel at far right bears vertical text; two facsimile signatures flank the serial number and denomination numeral 100. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central vignette of a female figure wearing a Santa Claus hat with holly sprigs in her flowing hair, surrounded by snowflakes and scrollwork. To the right, a green outline map of Tanzania with a mining pick-and-hammer emblem. Vertical text panel at left recounts the geological origin of tanzanite. |
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| Comments |
Tanzania is the only known source of tanzanite, a blue-violet zoisite variety first identified in the Merelani Hills near Arusha in 1967 and subsequently named and commercialized by Tiffany & Co. The stone's scarcity — the mineralized zone spans roughly 7 square kilometers — is what makes it a reasonable subject for a commemorative issue from the country that controls its entire supply.
The December birthstone designation came from a 2002 revision to the American Gem Trade Association's official list, making tanzanite one of the more recently added birthstones to any such calendar — a detail that gives the thematic framing here a fairly short history.