The SARB officially introduces the country's upgraded banknotes and coins

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has introduced upgraded banknotes and coins into the South African market, which will go into circulation on 4 May 2023. The denominations will be introduced one at a time. The upgraded banknotes and coins have improved security features and new designs, and while the broad themes for the upgraded banknotes remain the same as the current banknotes, the coin has a new ‘deep ecology’ theme.

The changes, announced on Wednesday, were consistent with international best practices, which generally recommend that countries regularly upgrade banknotes and coins to combat counterfeit notes.

Also read: Here are the designs of South Africa’s new circulation coins

In the first major upgrade to the country’s banknotes and coins in more than a decade, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is adding enhanced security features, a splash of colour and some new plants and animals to the country’s currency.

The banknotes continue to honour South Africa’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, with his portrait on the front and the Big 5 animals illustrated as a family on the back. According to the bank, depicting the Big Five as a family reinforces the importance of family bonds.

The banknotes are also meant to commemorate South Africa’s constitutional democracy, with the preamble to the South African Constitution printed in micro text around Madiba’s portrait and the country’s flag featured on the front and back.

The upgraded coin series has a ‘deep ecology’ theme that emphasises the interconnectedness of living organisms as an integral part of the environment. The fauna and flora on the coins represent this theme.

The new currency will circulate alongside current banknotes and coins. All banknotes and coins in circulation retain their face value.

According to the SARB, South Africa has one of the lowest counterfeit rates in the world, with only three fake notes for every million banknotes produced. It stated that banknotes and coins are regularly upgraded in accordance with international best practices in order to combat counterfeiting and keep up with technological advances.

In general, banknotes are refreshed every 6 to 8 years and coins every 20 to 30 years. The current Mandela banknote series was issued in South Africa in 2012, and a commemorative series of banknotes was issued in 2018. The current coin series first appeared in 1989.

The SARB encouraged the public to become familiar with the upgraded banknotes and coins, as well as to use the look, feel and tilt method to authenticate their currency.

Look features

To accommodate the partially sighted communities, the colours have been subtly enhanced to improve visual differentiation between denominations. Large-denomination numerals have also been incorporated on the front and back of the denominations, printed in positive and negative text.
To help the visually impaired even more, each denomination now has a shape that encapsulates the see-through, perfect print registration of the animal that is unique to each denomination. The R10 has a diamond, the R20 has a rectangle, the R50 has a circle, the R100 has a hexagon and the R200 has an oval. When the banknote is held up to the light, the entire image of the Big Five animals can be seen.
The watermark features a shadow image of a different Big 5 animal for each denomination, as well as the denomination numeral.
The preamble to South Africa’s Constitution is featured in micro-lettering on the left and right sides of the main portrait.

Feel features

The tactile marks have been enhanced to assist blind and visually impaired communities in distinguishing between denominations.
The tactile marks are located on the short edges of the R10 and R20 denominations, as well as the long edges of the R50, R100 and R200 denominations.
To determine the denomination of the banknote, the gaps between the sets of tactile marks are counted as follows: R10: one gap; R20: two gaps (on the short edge); R50: one gap; R100: two gaps; and R200: three gaps (on the long edge).
On the front of the banknotes, raised print includes the coat of arms, the words ‘South African Reserve Bank,’ the governor’s name and signature, the main portrait and the denomination numeral.
The words ‘South African Reserve Bank’, the denomination numeral and the Big 5 animals are printed in raised print on the back of the banknotes in two of the 11 official languages.

Tilt features

SPARK®Live Truspin, a colour-changing ink with a spin circle feature, is embedded within the Big 5 animal on the banknote’s bottom right. When the banknote is tilted, the circle spins and changes colour.
When the banknote is tilted, the security thread moves dynamically and matches the colour change on the SPARK®Live Truspin.
The security thread displays the abbreviation ‘SARB,’ the denomination numeral and the Big 5 animals unique to each denomination.
The security thread appears as a continuous, solid, dark line when the banknote is held up to the light.
On each banknote, the denomination numeral appears as a latent image or hidden image. By tilting the banknote almost horizontally towards your eye, you can see the latent image.

Coin series

The diameter, national coat of arms, mintage year and South Africa’s 11 official languages, which rotate on a 10-year cycle, remain unchanged. The following design changes have been implemented:

The 10c coin features the Cape honey bee, the 20c coin features bitter aloe, the 50c coin features Knysna turaco, the R1 coin features the springbok and the R5 coin features the southern right whale.
The front of the R1 coin features the South African flag.
The words ‘South Africa’ appear on the R1 coin in only one language.
The words ‘South Africa’ appear on the R5 coin in three different languages.
When the R5 is tilted, the latent image changes from ‘RAND’ to ‘FIVE’.

The coin series has new landing patterns on the inside of the coin to assist the visually impaired community in distinguishing between the various denominations by feel: