Global Courant 2023-05-03 17:02:17
The South African Reserve Bank has officially launched the latest printing and minting of the country’s notes and coins.
The SARB has upgraded the country’s banknotes and coins with improved security features and new designs that celebrate the country’s heritage.
“We added the South African flag, the preamble to our constitution in microletters and depicted the Big Five as a family. The deep ecology theme of the 4th decimal coin series celebrates our interconnectedness with other living organisms.
The new coin designs and specifications have been known since they were published at the beginning of the year, but the new notes have been shown for the first time.
The biggest changes to the notes are that the individual Big Five are now represented with their families. The note coloring is also a bit deeper – especially the R50 notes, which lean more towards purple than the pink color before.
These are the new notes:
R10 front
R10 back
R20 front
R20 back
R50 front
50€ back
R100 front
R100 back
R200 front
R200 back
The coins have undergone more significant changes.
The new R5 coin replaces the iconic wildebeest as an animal and replaces it with the southern right whale. It retains the bi-meta alloy from before, weighing 9.5g and measuring 26mm in diameter.
The R2 coin has replaced the kudu with the springbok and shifts the edges for a more diamond shape. The 2023 circulation will be nickel-plated steel (from previously nickel-plated copper), which will make it slightly heavier (6.5g versus 5.5g).
The R1 coin replaces the springbok with South Africa’s official flower, the protea, and features a new pentagonal border. As with the R2 coin, the R1 coin will be nickel plated steel and slightly heavier than the older 5g coins.
The 50 cent coin drops the strelitzia – the bird of paradise – for a real bird, with the loerie (turaco) making its debut in circulation. The coin has also adopted a hexagonal rim, which previously cut off the non-angular (9-sided) shape. The coin will remain bronze-plated steel, although it will be 0.5 grams lighter than the older coins.
The promotion of the protea to the R1 has left room in the 20 cent coin for another plant, with the coin now playing host to aloe. The border has also dropped from a nonagon and is now a heptagon (7-sided). As with the 50c, the coin remains bronzed steel, also slightly lighter.
South Africa’s smallest coin value – the 10 cent – says goodbye to the arum and makes way for the honey bee. The border drops to one side to become an octagon. The size, composition and weight remain unchanged.
The new coins can be seen below:
Read: New R5 and R2 Coins for South Africa
