The pound was the currency of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

until 1971. From 1932, Malawi (then known as

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...

) used the Southern Rhodesian pound. In 1955, a new currency was introduced, the Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound. This was replaced by the Malawian pound in 1964, following Malawi's independence. The pound was subdivided into 20

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence ...

s, each of 12

pence A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...

. The pound was replaced by the

decimal The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers of the Hindu–Arabic numeral ...

kwacha in 1971, at a rate of 2 kwacha = 1 pound.

Coins

In 1964, coins were issued in copper-nickel and in the denominations of 6d, 1/–, 2/– and 2/6. All bore the portrait of

Hastings Banda Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1898 – 25 November 1997) was the prime minister and later president of Malawi from 1964 to 1994 (from 1964 to 1966, Malawi was an independent Dominion / Commonwealth realm). In 1966, the country became a republic and ...

. 1d coins were introduced in 1967. The 1d had a smooth edge whereas all the other coins had 4×4 interrupted milling.

Banknotes

On 6 July 1964, Nyasaland became independent from Britain and was renamed Malawi. For two years,

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

, remained head of state as Queen of Malawi. Upon becoming a republic in 1966, Malaŵi became a single-party state under the presidency of Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who remained president until 1994, when he was ousted from power. His portrait appears on the front of all notes issued during his three decades in office, with scenes on the back emphasizing agriculture's great importance to Malawi's economy. Notes during his presidency also carry watermarks (and later registration devices) of a rooster, the symbol of Banda's Malawi Congress Party. The first series of notes dated 1964 and issued by the

Reserve Bank of Malawi The Reserve Bank of Malawi is the central bank of Malawi established in the year 1964 located in Lilongwe. The current governor is Wilson Banda. The Bank is active in promoting financial inclusion policy and is a leading member of thAlliance for ...

consists of the denominations 5/–, 10/–, £1 and £5.

References

External links

Currencies of Africa Currencies of the Commonwealth of Nations Currencies of Malawi History of Malawi Modern obsolete currencies 1964 establishments in Malawi 1971 disestablishments {{Malawi-stub