250 Kwacha Nyala

Malawi's gold issues of 1978 were produced to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the country's decimal currency system, introduced in 1971 — a system itself only made possible after Malawi severed its ties to the Rhodesian pound following UDI. The 250 Kwacha was the highest denomination in that commemorative series, struck in limited quantities almost certainly intended for the export collector market rather than any domestic circulation.

The nyala, a spiral-horned antelope native to the Shire Highlands, was chosen as the subject for this denomination. It had been hunted nearly to local extinction by the early twentieth century.