Tanzania's first banknote series — Pick 1 through Pick 4 — was issued in June 1966, roughly two years after the country's formal establishment following the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The Bank of Tanzania itself had only been established in 1966, replacing the East African Currency Board, which had issued a common currency shared with Kenya and Uganda. Breaking from that regional arrangement was a deliberate assertion of independent monetary policy, and this 5 Shilling note was among the first instruments of it.
De La Rue printed the entire inaugural series. The 5 Shilling denomination circulated heavily and survivors in collectable grades are genuinely harder to find than the higher values.
Tanzania's first banknote series — Pick 1 through Pick 4 — was issued in June 1966, roughly two years after the country's formal establishment following the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The Bank of Tanzania itself had only been established in 1966, replacing the East African Currency Board, which had issued a common currency shared with Kenya and Uganda. Breaking from that regional arrangement was a deliberate assertion of independent monetary policy, and this 5 Shilling note was among the first instruments of it.
De La Rue printed the entire inaugural series. The 5 Shilling denomination circulated heavily and survivors in collectable grades are genuinely harder to find than the higher values.