5 Tambala

Malawi's decimal coinage was introduced in 1971 when the country replaced the pound-based system with the kwacha and tambala — a conversion driven by the broader wave of post-independence monetary reform across southern Africa. The tambala denominations were sized and weighted to align loosely with familiar colonial-era coins, easing public adoption in a largely rural economy where cash transactions often passed through markets rather than banks.

The dual Schön references reflect a design change mid-series, distinguishing an earlier and later type struck across the same date range.