ZK10000 — Ten Thousand Kwacha
The artwork
Front: An African fish eagle, white head and breast against slate blue, gripping a bare branch — the bird that stands for Zambia on every denomination. Behind the lettering, a broad spreading tree and open bush. "BANK OF ZAMBIA" runs across the top, with "I PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND / TEN THOUSAND KWACHA" and a single Governor's signature. Lower left, the national arms in a roundel dated 2003; beside it a foil eagle patch printed over with repeated K10000.
Back: Three Zambian subjects side by side. At left a crested porcupine in deep maroon, quills raised, above a band of woven basketwork pattern. In the centre, in green, labourers cutting and stooking a crop in a field. At right the Freedom Statue in Lusaka — the figure straining to break the chains that hang from his wrists, the memorial to the independence struggle. "TEN THOUSAND KWACHA" sits in the lower left panel.
In circulation
Zambia's highest denomination through the 2000s, this 2003-dated printing circulated until the kwacha was rebased on 1 January 2013, when 1,000 old kwacha became one new kwacha. The K10,000 was effectively replaced by the new 10-kwacha note, and the old currency ceased to be legal tender that June.
Details
- IssuerBank of Zambia
- CurrencyKwacha (ZK)
- DenominationTen Thousand Kwacha
- Collectedon the Zambia journeys, 1992–1993
- SeriesDated 2003, arms roundel at lower left
- PrinterThomas De La Rue and Company Limited, named on the back
- SignatureOne signature, Governor
- SecurityFoil eagle patch overprinted with repeated K10000; iridescent bird device at left