5000 Kwacha Elephant

Zambia's wildlife series coins of this period were produced under license by foreign minting houses — primarily in Europe — for the collector market rather than domestic circulation. The Bank of Zambia issued them largely as a foreign exchange mechanism during a period when the kwacha had lost catastrophic purchasing power; by 2002, inflation had pushed the official exchange rate past 4,000 kwacha to the US dollar, making a 5,000 kwacha face value on a silver coin almost a commentary on the currency itself.