Sh 500 coin
2014 to be used side by side with the note of the same value, which is said to wear off quickly. But ‘innovative’ people in Dar es Salaam soon discovered that the coin could be put to better business use.
At issue is smelting the coin and making various ornaments like necklaces, earrings and bangles out of it on belief that the Sh500 coin was made of pure silver.
However, the Bank of Tanzania has rubbished the claims that the coin was made of pure silver saying, instead, that the coin was made of iron and nickel.
The coin is round in shape and has stripes on the sides with a diameter of 27.5 millimeters, a weight of 9.5 grammes and silvery in colour.
According to BoT Assistant Manager Safe Custody Centres, Abdul Dollah, these were just rumours because the coin did not contain any silver metal.
“Instead, the coin contains six per cent nickel and the other remaining percentage is iron and other minerals, but not silver,” he explained.
Dollah admitted to have heard such rumours that jewelers have been buying the Sh500 coin at Sh1, 000; saying that BoT was sure that no jeweler could deal in that business because there was no silver material in it.
He said if there was any jewel in that business, BoT would be ready to offer him or her coins at that price of Sh1, 000.
But he admitted that there are Sh50,000 silver-material coins, which had been made for commemorative purposes but were not in circulation.
He clarified further that BoT has been issuing such commemorative coins, either in gold or silver materials in which the latest one (in silver) was issued during the 50 years of Tanganyika Independent and 50 years of Zanzibar Revolution.
He said whoever wanted the silver coins should purchase it at Sh50,000 whether for commemorative purposes or any other business like jewelery though the Bank’s intention was only for commemorative purposes.
A survey conducted by The Guardian on Sunday in various stores located at Kimara Bonyokwa observed that many shop owners keep the coins and re-sell them at a high price.
Daniel Massawe, owner of Massawe shop said many people were going to his shop to ask whether he had the coins and purchased one Sh500 coin for Sh2,000.
Massawe said that he has been collecting the coins from the customers and later sold the same to his clients whom he refused to mention because he says he knew that they were doing illegal business.
“But the coin has now become so scarce that it is not easy to get it in many areas around here; I think this is because many people now know the business has become lucrative and so they have joined in the trade,” he said.
“Until now I do not remember how much I have earned from that business, but the last time I sold only 20 coins worth Sh40,000,” he said.
In addition, Charles Gobi, owner of a store said that he was first approached by a bodaboda driver at his shop asking for the coin saying that if there were more coins he would pay him good money.
“Unfortunately, I did not have enough of them and I wished I had more,” he added.
Gobi added that when he asked the driver as to why he wanted a lot of these coins, he answered that they were a big deal for it was used in making necklaces and many other nice silver ornaments.
In another development, Mary Antidius was surprised to realise that the coin had now disappeared and thought that BoT had stopped circulating them.
“Since the coin was released, I have come across it only once but I had never thought that the coin could be such a big deal,” she said.
According to Dollah, BoT was in the process of withdrawing the Sh500 note from circulation because it can last for only seven months while the coin’s life span was 20 years, adding that removing the currency note would reduce printing cost.
He said the Bank was setting up branches in the regions to facilitate easy collection of the dilapidated currency notes, adding that BoT has already entered into agreements with some commercial Banks for the same purpose county-wide.
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