1000 Kwacha Princess Diana

Issued within months of Diana's death in August 1997, this piece belongs to a wave of commemorative gold struck by smaller sovereign mints capitalizing on global demand before the market saturated. Zambia was among the faster issuers, with the Bank of Zambia authorizing the design almost immediately after the Paris crash. The KM#298 designation places it firmly in the collector-bullion category rather than any serious monetary function — Zambia's circulating coinage of the period ran to far lower face values.