1000 Kwacha - Elizabeth II Coelacanth

The coelacanth was long believed extinct — a creature known only from fossils dating back 66 million years — until a living specimen was hauled up off the South African coast in 1938. A second distinct population was discovered in Indonesian waters in 1998, just three years before this coin was issued. Zambia has no coastline and no biological connection to the species whatsoever, making this a frankly commercial decision by the Bank of Zambia targeting the collector market rather than any genuine national commemorative impulse.