Coins Melting Worries BOZ

The Bank of Zambia says it has received reports that some unscrupulous individuals are buying 50 Ngwee coins with a view to melting these for their purported metal content.

Bank of Zambia Head of Communications Kanguya Mayondi in a statement made available to QFM News today says the current Zambian coins do not contain pure metals such as copper or gold.

Mr Mayondi says the intrinsic value of the four coin denominations currently in circulation, namely: K1, 50 ngwee, 10 ngwee and 5ngwee is far less than their face values.

He explains that this is because the coins are made of steel blanks which are electroplated, citing the 50 ngwee coin denomination which he says is electroplated with bronze.

Mr Mayondi further explains that electroplating is the process used to change the surface properties of the steel base in all the coins with a thickness of 25 microns.

He states that this level of thickness of the plating is too thin for anyone to obtain financial value through the melting of the coins.

Mr Mayondi says the Bank of Zambia advises members of the public to only use coins for appropriate transactions and urgently report to the Bank of Zambia or nearest Police Station, anyone found selling or destroying coins for any perceived extra value.

He cautions the general public that it is a criminal offence to destroy currency and that anyone found committing this crime will be liable to a maximum of two years imprisonment.

Posted by Editor on September 11, 2014. Filed under LATEST NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry