20 Kwacha

Zambia's 1974 note series arrived during a period of acute economic stress — copper prices had collapsed on world markets, and copper accounted for roughly 90% of Zambian export earnings. The government's ability to back its currency was being openly questioned at precisely the moment these notes entered circulation.

Thomas De La Rue's involvement here is unremarkable by regional standards; the London firm printed for much of anglophone Africa throughout the 1970s. What distinguishes P#18 is its relative brevity in circulation — the series was superseded within a few years as Zambia continued restructuring its note denominations in response to ongoing inflation pressure.