On 17 December 2010, the Bank of Tanzania announced it would introduce a new family of notes on 1 January 2011. The new notes are slightly smaller than the existing notes, which will continue to circulate in parallel. The new notes are protected by Motion windowed security threads, Spark patches, and watermarks with electrotype denominations, among other anti-counterfeiting features.
According to an article on The Citizen dated 30 December 2011, Crane printed all denominations except the 1,000-shilling note, which is printed by De La Rue. Previously Tanzania’s notes were printed by Giesecke & Devrient, whose contract expired in April 2009.
500 shillings
Green. Front: Swahili text; coat of arms; Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume. Back: English text; snake coiled around stick; University of Dar es Salaam central hall building; graduating students wearing caps and gowns. giraffe. Motion windowed security thread. Watermark: Julius Kambarage Nyerere with electrotype 500. Printer: (Crane). 120 x 60 mm. Paper.
1,000 shillings
Blue. Front: Swahili text; coat of arms; first president, Julius Kambarage Nyerere; Bismarck Rock in Mwanza Harbor; holographic patch. Back: English text; coffee plant; State House (Ikulu) building with flag in Dar es Salaam. Windowed security thread with demetalized BOT 2010. Security thread varieties. Watermark: Julius Kambarage Nyerere with electrotype 1000 and Cornerstones. Printer: (De La Rue). 125 x 65 mm. Paper.
2,000 shillings
Tan and brown. Front: Swahili text; coat of arms; lion. Back: English text; palm trees; old Omani Arab Fort (Ngome Kongwe) in Zanzibar’s Stone Town; carved block; diamond-shaped Spark patch with giraffe head. Motion windowed security thread. Watermark: Julius Kambarage Nyerere with electrotype 2000. Printer: (Crane). 130 x 66 mm. Paper.
5,000 shillings
Purple. Front: Swahili text; coat of arms; plant; black rhinoceros. Back: English text; mining machinery; rough and cut diamonds; diamond-shaped Spark patch with giraffe head. Motion windowed security thread. Watermark: Julius Kambarage Nyerere with electrotype 5000. Printer: (Crane). 135 x 67 mm. Paper.
10,000 shillings
Red and yellow. Front: Swahili text; coat of arms; elephant. Back: English text; flowers; Bank of Tanzania headquarters building in Dar es Salaam; diamond-shaped Spark patch with giraffe head. Motion windowed security thread. Watermark: Julius Kambarage Nyerere with electrotype 10000. Printer: (Crane). 140 x 68 mm. Paper.
Courtesy of Thomas Augustsson.