South Africa: Reserve Bank launches new banknotes and coins

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has unveiled South Africa’s upgraded banknotes and coin on 03 May 2023. The new denominations are available from today (04 May 2023) and will be introduced incrementally. The upgraded banknotes and coin series will co-circulate with the current series and retain the same value per denomination. The security upgrade is in line with international best practice to ensure we stay ahead of counterfeiters.

The upgraded banknotes continue to pay homage to South Africa’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, with his portrait featured on the front of all five denominations while the Big Five animals are depicted as a family. The new (fourth decimal) coin series is based on the theme of deep ecology, which celebrates the interconnectedness of humans and other living organisms as an integral part of the environment.

• R5 depicts the southern right whale along with a school of galjoen - South Africa’s national fish.
• R2 features the springbok family along with its habitat.
• R1 depicts the king protea.
• 50c depicts the Knysna turaco.
• 20c shows the bitter aloe.
• 10c depicts the Cape honey bee.

Namibia launches a new banknote to commemorate its 30th independance anniversary! [update]

update (13 May 2020): The Bank of Namibia (BON) has announced that the N$30 commemorative banknote launched on Namibia's Independence Day 2020 shall be available to the public as from 15 May 2020.

The Bank of Namibia (BON) has released a new N$30 banknote in commemoration of Namibia's 30th independance anniversary. The new banknote, which features portraits of former Presidents Sam Nujoma and Hifikepunye Pohamba as well as current President Hage Geingob on the front side and a Black Namibian Rhino on the back side, is to be used at the same time with the current family of banknotes and all banknotes are the be accepted as legal tender in the payment of goods and services. The commemorative banknote is printed on a smooth, secure and durable material known as polymer hat bears state of the art security features. Other notable features include:

• Transparent dynamic-effedt between the diamond-shaped window and the value 30 with gold ink.
• Six clusters of raised dots in the top right corner which helps visually impaired and partially sighted people to identiy the value of the note, similar with the current banknotes.
• At the back of the note there is a see-through window depicting the Black Namibian Rhino.

click to enlarge
(c) Bank of Namibia

Kenya introduces new banknotes!

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has unveiled the new generation banknotes during the Madaraka Day celebrations in Nairobi on 01 June 2019. The new notes have a unique theme and security features and have various images – 50 shillings, Green Energy; 100 shillings, Agriculture; 200 shilling, Social Services; 500 shillings, Tourism; 1,000 shillings, Governance – and are easy to use by the visually impaired. New banknotes are to be brought in Kenya over the coming months with other denominations being phased out gradually. The old Sh1000-note will be withdrawn effective 01 October 2019 when they will cease to be legal tender.

Rwanda introduced new banknotes!

The National Bank of Rwanda released a new series of FRW 500 and FRW 1000 banknotes in Rwanda today. The FRW 500 banknote is brown in color, different from the current blue, while the FRW 1000 banknote retains its blue color. Both denominations were redesigned with enhanced security features to beat counterfeiters. The old banknotes were worn out but will continue to be used alongside the new ones for the next three years until the old notes are out of circulation.

pic.twitter.com/4gwZgCXJFS

— National Bank Rwanda (@CentralBankRw) February 8, 2019

South Africa: New coin and banknotes for Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday! [UPDATE]

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will launch a set of commemorative South African banknotes in honour of what would have been Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday. These notes will cover all denominations – R10, R20,  R50, R100 and R200. At the same time, the South African Mint, a subsidiary of the SARB, will issue a new R5 circulation coin celebrating Madiba's birth centenary. It is expected that the commemorative banknotes and coin will be introduced into circulation in South Africa from 18 13 July 2018.
The existing Mandela series of banknotes (from 2012) as well as the existing R5 coin in circulation will remain legal tender and will continue to be issued. This means that the new commemorative banknotes and coin will circulate alongside the existing banknotes and coin.

via: https://www.gpwonline.co.za

The the R5 circulation coin and every commemorative banknote will take the individual on a historical journey with former President Mandela:

• The commemorative R5 circulation coin features a portrait of Madiba, smiling at the nation he helped to build.
• The R10 banknote is inspired by the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape, featuring Madiba’s humble birthplace of Mvezo.
• The R20 banknote features Mandela’s home in Soweto, where he defined his political life alongside other struggle icons.
• The R50 banknote depicts the site where Madiba was captured near Howick following 17 months in hiding. This moment set in motion events that would change his life forever.
• Madiba's time on Robben Island is depicted on the R100 banknote, where he was incarcerated for 18 of his 27 years in prison.
• The inspiration for the R200 banknote comes from the moment when Madiba greeted the nation for the first time as a statesman. 

Botswana to introduce a new P10 polymer banknote!

Botswana's Bank of Botswana will introduce a new polymer P10 (pula) banknote on 01 February 2018. The new banknote, which will circulate concurrently with the current paper P10 banknote, has largely maintained the same design and colour as the current paper P10 banknote, except that it has more advanced security features.

Zambia to rebase the Kwacha on 01 Jan 2013

In January 2012 the Government of Zambia approved the recommendation of the Bank of Zambia (BOZ) Board to rebase the national currency, the Zambian Kwacha, by lopping off three zeros. The date for the actual changeover to the rebased currency and the introduction of new banknotes & coins is set to be 01 January 2013. Zambia will replace the old notes and coins with new 100 Kwacha, 50 Kwacha, 20 Kwacha, 10 Kwacha, 5 Kwacha and 2 Kwacha banknotes, as well as 1 Kwacha, 50 Ngwee, 10 Ngwee and 5 Ngwee coins.

(c) Cavmont Bank (click on screenshot to enlarge or here to download the original pdf)

The public in Zambia is given a six-month window in which people will be able to transact using the current and rebased notes after which transactions would only be done using rebased notes.

South Africa: New banknotes to feature former president Nelson Mandela

update (31 Oct 2012): The bank notes featuring former president Nelson Mandela will enter circulation in South Africa on 06 November 2012, the South African Reserve Bank said on 30 Oct 2012. 

The South African Reserve Bank announced the forthcoming introduction of a new series of banknotes honouring former president Nelson Mandela. The new banknotes, which are equipped with a unique combination of state-of-the-art security features, will come into circulation before the end of 2012. The new banknotes will also have enhanced features for the visually impaired, including raised print on both sides.
The front of the banknotes feature an image of South Africa's first democratically elected president Nelson Mandela, while the back of the notes have maintained the "Big Five" animal images that appear on current banknotes. The current and the new banknotes will co-circulate and both are legal tender.

screenshot

update (21 Sept 2012): To introduce South Africa's new banknotes, the South African Reserve Bank has released a TV commercial to inform the public.

Namibia introduces new banknotes

an old (current) N$10 bill

update (27 Apr 2012): The new Namibian banknotes will be circulated on 15 May 2012.

Namibia has launched a new series of banknotes with state-of-the-art security features to ensure that the country's banknotes are not as vulnerable to potential counterfeiters as they used to be.
The new N$10 and N$20 denominations are featuring an image of former President Sam Nujoma, while the new N$50; N$100 and N$200 denominations still feature an image of Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi.

The upgraded banknotes will be circulated in the market in May 2012. Both the newly launched and the current (old) banknotes will be accepted as legal tender in the payment for goods and services until the old banknotes are phased out over time

Mozambique introduced new banknotes on 01 Oct 2011

The Southern African country of Mozambique has introduced new banknotes on 01 October 2011. The new 20, 50 and 100 meticais notes are made of a synthetic material (polymer) suitable for humid conditions, while the higher value and less frequented banknotes (200, 500 and 1,000 meticais) are still produced on paper. The new banknotes are similar in design to the existing series (from 2006), but with enhanced security features.
The "old" notes, introduced in 2006, remain valid. Only the even "older" ones, which were already replaced in 2006, cannot be used anymore, but can be be redeemed at the Bank of Mozambique until the end of 2012.