Catalog
20 Kwacha
| Issuer | Bank of Zambia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1969 |
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| Value | 20 Kwacha (20 ZMK) |
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| Obverse description | Portrait of President Kenneth Kaunda in intaglio at right, with the national arms vignette at upper centre and a carved wooden figure at left. The central legend reads 'I PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND TWENTY KWACHA FOR THE BANK OF ZAMBIA', with the denomination K20 printed in the upper corners. A guilloche underprint frames the composition, and the Governor's signature appears below the central text. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | BANK OF ZAMBIA K 20 TWENTY KWACHA |
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| Comments |
Zambia's first post-independence banknote series, of which this is part, was introduced in 1968 following the country's break from the Rhodesian pound system — itself a casualty of UDI and the economic rupture between Lusaka and Salisbury. The 20 Kwacha sat at the top of that inaugural series, a high denomination in a country where copper export revenues were funding rapid state expansion under Kaunda's government.
The two signatures — Valentine Musakanya as Governor and Elijah Zulu as Finance Minister — place this note within a narrow window. Musakanya left the governorship in 1970, making dated examples from 1969 among the last bearing that pairing.