TAMBALA: COIN OF MALAWI
10 tambala, 1995: Republic of Malawi
10 TAMBALA.
Corn cobs.
P.V.: initials of the author of the coin design — Jewish-Hungarian designer of coins and medals, sculptor Paul Vincze.
MALAŴI: writing the name of the state of Malawi in the official local Chewa language.
Elson Bakili Muluzi — Malawian politician who was the 2nd freely elected president of Malawi (1994-2004).
During 1971-1989, a Malawian coin was minted with exactly the same reverse and visually similar obverse (it contained a portrait of the country's 1st president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda).
Royal Mint (United Kingdom).
- Nickel plated steel: 23 mm - 5.64 g
- Reference price: 1$
COIN TAMBALA — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- REPUBLIC OF MALAWI (1971-...): tambala = 1/100 kwacha
TAMBALA as coin name.
Tambala — coin of the African state of Malawi (formerly Nyasaland), which is 1/100 of the local kwacha.
In the first years after the declaration of independence in 1964, the currency of Malawi was the Malawian pound. It was eventually replaced by the kwacha in 1971. In the same year, the smallest coin of the state was appeared — tambala (or rather several of its denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 tambala).
When developing the design of the new exchange coins, it was decided to follow the such path: to use the story line of the previous coins of Malawi — colonial pence, shillings, florins and crowns. The result is a similar coins design: 6 pence and 1 tambala, 1 shilling and 10 tambala, 1 florin and 20 tambala, 1/2 crown and 50 tambala. The exception was 2 and 5 tambala, for which a unique design was developed.
The name of the Tambala coin translates to "rooster" in Malawi's national language — Nyanja or Chichewa. This bird is a symbol of the Malawi Congress Party (one of the Malawian political parties). It was the cockerel that was depicted on the 1 tambala coin (the design of the Malawi sixpence, introduced in 1964, was repeated).
