Owner Comments:
The Royal Mint had minted coins for Tanzania before, but this undertaking was markedly different. The process began 2 years prior in 2012 with the Royal Mint starting the bidding process to strike the 500 Shillingi coin for Tanzania. This was featured in a case study PDF on the Royal Mint website and this PDF highlights the unique challenges of this undertaking.
First, this was a conversion coin - Tanzania had been using a 500 Shillingi banknote and found it was not cost effective since it was replacing soiled and damaged notes so frequently. Also, the coin needed to be produced in a manner that allowed other mints to compete so a mono-ply nickel-plated steel coin was chosen. The Royal Mint has a name for this process, aRMour, that is a registered trademark. Finally, the RM undertook a marketing campaign to educate the population on the new coin to ease its acceptance. The coins have a lifespan of 25+ years according to the RM. Over 100 million of these coins were struck for the government of Tanzania by the Royal Mint over the course of about 18 months. The coin has a unique security feature where the denomination, 500, is seen from one angle and as the coin is turned the acronym, BOT for Bank of Tanzania, is seen from the other angle. This hologram effect should make the coins difficult to counterfeit.
The 2014 500 Shillingi coin from Tanzania is the first coin that Royal Mint engraver Jody Clark had a hand in designing for the Royal Mint that was struck for use. The design needed to incorporate elements from the 500 Shillingi note, so Clark was confined to using an African Water Buffalo, but this would prove to be good practice for animal designs on coins given his involvement in the Queen's Beasts series 3 years later.