Coinage of Malawi

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GOODBYE TO PRESIDENT BANDA.

President Banda ran in Malawi's first truly democratic presidential election in 1994. He was roundly defeated by Bakili Muluzi.

This event led to several changes to the coinage in 1995.

From Wikipedia:

Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1898 – 1997) was the leader of Malawi and its predecessor state, Nyasaland, from 1961 to 1994. After receiving much of his education overseas, Banda returned to his home country (then British Nyasaland) to speak against colonialism and advocate independence. In 1963 he was formally appointed Nyasaland's Prime Minister, and led the country to independence as Malawi a year later. Two years later, he proclaimed Malawi a republic with himself as president. He consolidated power and later declared Malawi a one party state under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). In 1970, the MCP made him the party's President for Life. In 1971, he became President for Life of Malawi itself.

As a leader of the pro-Western bloc in Africa, he received support from the West during the Cold War. He generally supported women's rights, improved the country's infrastructure, and maintained a good educational system relative to other African countries. However, he presided over one of the most repressive regimes in Africa. He also faced scorn for maintaining full diplomatic relations with apartheid-era South Africa. By 1993, he was facing international pressure and widespread protest. A referendum ended his one party state, and a special assembly stripped him of his title. Banda ran for president in the democratic elections which followed, but was defeated. He died in South Africa in 1997.

See: Wikipedia: Hastings Banda

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Elson Bakili Muluzi

PRESIDENT MULUZI.

Elson Bakili Muluzi was born in 1943 in Machinga, Nyasaland (now Malawi). He is a Malawian politician.

He was the first freely elected president of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. He succeeded Hastings Kamuzu Banda as Malawi's president.

His election as president triggered changes in Malawi's coinage. Kamuzu Banda's portrait was removed from the coinage, along with the cockerel designs. The cockerel had been the symbol of Mr. Banda's political party.

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CHANGES TO THE COINAGE IN 1995 AND 1996.

Several changes were made to the coinage in 1995 and 1996.

1] TWO MINTS PRODUCED THE NEW COINS.

Previously the Royal Mint (UK) had produced Malawi's circulation coins. In 1995 the new coins were jointly produced by the Royal Mint (UK) and the Royal Canadian Mint. The Royal Mint produced all the new circulation issues of 1996.

2] THE REPLACEMENT OF PRESIDENT BANDA'S PORTRAIT.

President Banda's portrait was replaced on some coins by the portrait of the President Muluzi and on other coins by the coat of arms. Some denominations were issued in two versions: one showing the coat of arms and the other featuring President Muluzi. The Royal Canadian Mint produced those coins of 1995 that featured the coat of arms, while the Royal Mint produced the coins featuring the new presidential portrait. I will describe and illustrate these changes in detail in the posts that follow.

3] THE REPLACEMENT OF THE COCKEREL DESIGNS.

The cockerel designs were removed from the reverse of the 1 tambala coin and the 1 kwacha coin.

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SUMMARY OF NEW CIRCULATION ISSUES IN 1995.

1] Denominations showing the coat of arms on the obverse.

1, 2 and 5 tambala.  The Royal Canadian Mint produced these 1995-dated coins.

These coins do NOT show the designer initials on the reverse.

2] Denominations showing the presidential portrait on the obverse.

1, 2,  5 and 10 tambala.  The Royal Mint (UK) produced these 1995-dated coins.

These coins show the designer initials on the reverse.

P.V. stands for Paul Vincze, a Hungarian born artist and modeller.

Mr. Vincze (pronounced 'VINT-seh') produced the original reverse designs for the coins.

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Obverse of the Malawi 1 tambala coin of 1995 - coat of arms type.

Above you see the obverse of the coat of arms version of the 1 tambala coin.

The coat of arms was remodeled by the Royal Canadian Mint.

The lion has a long, spikier mane, and the lion and leopard have thinner tails.

They also have larger ears and foot claws.


Curiously, this coin is made of bronze.

It was produced by the Royal Canadian Mint.


Previously, the 1 tambala coin had been made of opper-plated steel since 1984.

The 1995 presidential portrait version of this coin was made of copper-plated steel.

The presidential version was produced by the Royal Mint (UK).

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Reverse of the Malawi 1 tambala coin of 1995.

The cockerel was the symbol of President Banda's political party.

It was therefore removed from the reverse of the 1 tambala coin.


It was replaced with a strikingly attractive design of two tilapia fish.

The design was the work of the Royal Canadian Mint.

The mint refuses to reveal the name of the designer.

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Obverse of the Malawi 1 tambala coin of 1995 - presidential type.

Here you see the obverse of the presidential version of the 1 tambala coin.

This seems to be the scarcer of the two versions.


It featured a portrait of the new president, Bakili Muluzi.

The portrait was the work of Royal Mint (UK) artist Robert Elderton.


The Royal Mint produced all the Malawian presidential coin types of 1995, 1996 and 2003.

These coins co-circulated with the coat of arms types.


The 1 tambala was the same size and shape as before.

It was made of copper-plated steel, like the previous versions.

By contrast, the coat of arms version of the 1995 1 tambala coin was made of bronze.

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Reverse of the Malawi 2 tambala of 1995 - coat of arms version.

The remaining new coin types of 1995 retained the same reverse designs as before.

However, the coat of arms coin types did not show the designer initials: "P.V."

That was because those types were produced by the Royal Canadian Mint.

The RCM typically does not include designer initials on coins for overseas countries.

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Obverse of the 5 tambala of 1995 - coat of arms version.

Here you see how the coat of arms looked on the copper-nickel 5 tambala coin.

This coin type was produced by the Royal Canadian Mint.


The reverse design remained the same, except that it omitted the designer initials "P.V."

The RCM produced only the 1, 2 and 5 tambala of the 1995 issues.

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Obverse of the 5 tambala coin of 1995: presidential version.

Here you see how the presidential portrait looked on the copper-nickel 5 tambala coin.

This coin type was produced by the Royal Mint (UK).


The reverse design remained the same.

Unlike the coat of arms type, the reverse included the designer initials "P.V."

Artist and sculptor Paul Vincze had produced the original reverse designs for the Royal Mint.

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The presidential 10 tambala coin of 1995.

The 10 tambala coin was the highest denomination of the coins dated 1995.


The coin exists only with the presidential portrait.

It was produced by the Royal Mint (UK).

A 10 tambala coat of arms type was NOT produced for 1995.


The coin was of the same size, shape and weight as the previous versions.

The reverse design included the designer initials "P.V." as usual.

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SUMMARY OF NEW CIRCULATION ISSUES IN 1996.

In 1996 there were only three NEW coin types:

the 20 tambala, 50 tambala, and 1 kwacha coins.

These coin types completed the new coin series that was begun in 1995.


The Royal Mint (UK) produced all these new coin types.

They all featured the new presidential portrait on the obverse.

The Royal Canadian Mint did not produce any of them this time.


Unexpectedly, the 1996 20 tambala coins did NOT show the designer initials "P.V." on the reverse.

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The obverse of the 20 tambala coin of 1996 featured the new presidential portrait.

The reverse featured the two elephants, as before.

Unexpectedly, the reverse design did not include the designer initials.


This coin was produced by the Royal Mint (UK).

It was of the same size, shape and metal content as before.

A 20 tambala coat of arms type was NOT produced for 1996.

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Obverse of the Malawi 50 tambala coin of 1996.

Malawi issued a totally new coin type in 1996.

The new 50 tambala coin was heptagonal and made of brass-plated steel.

It weighed 4.4 grams and was 22 mm in diameter.


The previous 50 tambala coin had been large and heavy.

It weighed 11.35 grams and was 30 mm in diameter.

It was round and made of nickel-brass.


The new coin reflected the trend towards smaller and lighter coins.

These are less costly, as are plated coins.


The coin was also Malawi's first heptagonal coin.

Previously all Malawi's coins had been round.

A variety of shapes makes it easier to identify different coins.

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The reverse of the 50 tambala coin of 1996.

The reverse of the coin featured the coat of arms.

This coin was a Royal Mint product.

Consequently, the coat of arms was shown in the older style.

This had last appeared on the round 50 tambala coin of 1994.

That coin was also a Royal Mint product.