Tanzanian shilling

Tanzanian shilling
Shilingi ya Tanzania (Swahili)
1000 shillings Bank of Tanzania
ISO 4217 Code	TZS
User(s)	Tanzania
Inflation	5.9%
Source	The World Factbook, 2006 est.
Subunit
1/100	senti
Symbol	x/y (see article)
Coins	5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 shilingi
Banknotes	500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000 shilingi
Central bank	Bank of Tanzania
Website	www.bot-tz.org

The shilingi (Swahili, English: shilling) is the currency of Tanzania, although widespread use of U.S. dollars is accepted. It is subdivided into 100 senti (cents in English). The Tanzanian shilling replaced the East African shilling in 1966 at par.

For earlier currencies used in Tanzania, see East African florin, East African rupee, Zanzibari rupee, Zanzibari riyal and German East African rupie.

Symbol

Amount in the Tanzanian shilingi is written in the form of x/y, where x is the amount above 1 shilingi, while y is the amount in senti. An equals sign or hyphen represent zero amount. For example, 50 senti is written as "=/50" or "-/50", while 100 shilingi is written as "100/=" or "100/-".

Coins

In 1966, coins were introduced in denominations of 5, 20 and 50 senti and 1 shilingi, with the 5 senti struck in bronze, the 20 senti in nickel-brass and the 50 senti and 1 shilingi in cupro-nickel. Cupro-nickel 5 shilingi coins were introduced in 1972, followed by scalloped, nickel-brass 10 senti in 1977. In 1987, nickel-clad steel replaced cupro-nickel in the 50 senti and 1 shilingi, and cupro-nickel 5 and 10 shilingi coins were introduced, with the 5 shilingi octagonal in shape. In 1990, nickel-clad-steel 5, 10 and 20 shilingi were introduced, followed by brass coins for 100 shilingi in 1994, 50 shilingi in 1996 and 200 shilingi in 1998.

Coins currently in circulation are the 50, 100 and 200 shilingi.

Banknotes

In 1966, the Benki Kuu Ya Tanzania (Bank of Tanzania) introduced notes for 5, 10, 20 and 100 shilingi (also denominated in shillings on the first series of notes). The 5 shilingi note was replaced by a coin in 1972. 50 shilingi notes were introduced in 1985, followed by 200 shilingi in 1986, 500 shilingi in 1989 and 1000 shilingi in 1990. The 10, 20, 50 and 100 shilingi notes were replaced by coins in 1987, 1990, 1996 and 1994, respectively. 5000 and 10,000 shilingi notes were introduced in 1995, followed by 2000 shilingi in 2003.

Banknotes in circulation today are 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 shilingi.

2003 Series [1]
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description			Date of issue
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	Watermark
		500/=	130 × 63 mm	Green	African Buffalo	Nkrumah Hall, University of Dar es Salaam	Giraffe	2003
		1000/=	135 × 66 mm	Blue-violet	Julius Nyerere
		2000/=	140 × 69 mm	Orange-brown	Lion, Mount Kilimanjaro
		5000/=	145 × 72 mm	Purple	Black Rhinoceros	Geita gold Mine and House of Wonders Zanzibar
		10 000/=	150 × 75 mm	Red	Elephant
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

See also

• Economy of Tanzania

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Money of Tanzania

• Bank of Tanzania page on circulating banknotes

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