Catalog
50 Shilingi
| Issuer | Benki Kuu ya Tanzania (Bank of Tanzania) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1993 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 127 × 63 mm |
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| Obverse description | A front-facing bust portrait of President Ali Hassan Mwinyi occupies the right side of the note, with the national arms vignette at upper centre and a wildebeest vignette at lower left. The design incorporates a guilloche underprint across the face of the note, framed by ornate borders typical of De La Rue production. Bilingual inscriptions in Swahili appear above and below the central field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The central left vignette shows men engaged in house construction, a scene emblematic of national development, while a torch motif appears at right. A map of Tanzania including its offshore islands is positioned at upper centre, set against a guilloche underprint with ornate border work. The denomination and issuing authority are stated in Swahili across the lower register. |
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| Comments |
Tanzania's second-generation shilling notes, introduced in the early 1990s, came after a difficult period of economic contraction tied to the collapse of ujamaa — Julius Nyerere's socialist collectivization program — and subsequent IMF structural adjustment in the late 1980s. The currency stabilization effort that produced this series was part of a broader push to rebuild confidence in the Tanzanian shilling after years of severe inflation had hollowed out smaller denominations.
Thomas De La Rue's involvement continued a printing relationship with the Bank of Tanzania stretching back to independence-era issues. The watermark remains the sole listed security feature — modest by the standards of the period, even for a regional mid-denomination.