South Africa’s upgraded banknotes and coins showcase Big Five 'family bonds' and 'deep ecology'

(Photo: SA Reserve Bank)

By Ed Stoddard

3 May 2023

From Thursday, 4 May, upgraded banknotes and coins will begin circulating through the veins of South Africa’s fragile economy. Changes include the depiction of the Big Five as family units on the back of the banknotes, while the theme for the coins is ‘deep ecology’. The banknotes and coins include enhanced security features.

The new banknotes will continue to pay homage to democratic South Africa’s first president, Nelson Mandela, whose image will continue to grace the front of banknotes on all denominations.

“We also celebrate our constitutional democracy with the preamble to the South African Constitution printed in microtext around Madiba’s portrait and the country’s flag featured on the front and the back of the banknotes,” said the South African Reserve Bank.

The Big Five – leopard, lion, elephant, Cape buffalo and rhino – will get a family makeover.

“The banknotes now feature our Big Five animals as a family, reinforcing the value of family bonds,” the South African Reserve Bank says on its website.

A critic might depict a whiff of anthropomorphism at play here – the Big Five are so called not just because of their size, but also because of the danger they present to humans. The big cats displayed on the R50 and R200 notes eat people. The only family bonds they share with us is that they might sometimes share our body parts with their family.

But big mammals do spend their youth with their mamas and so the accuracy of the portraits is beyond dispute. And many people will find it cute, so there’s no harm in that.

(Photo: SA Reserve Bank)

Meanwhile, the theme of the newly minted coins is “deep ecology, which acknowledges the interconnectedness of living organisms as an integral part of the environment. These themes are depicted by our fauna and flora on the coin.”

The R1 coin, at least according to what can be seen on the South African Reserve Bank website, now features a protea, while the springbok has been upgraded to the R2 coin – a mother and her young – and the kudu is apparently out. The R5 coin will have a mama whale and her baby, with some fish swimming with them.

There are also upgraded security features.

“Members of the public are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the upgraded banknotes and coins, and to use the look, feel and tilt method to authenticate their currency,” said the South African Reserve Bank.

The South African Reserve Bank has helpful advice on how to do just that, with details of the security features.

Read more here.

As we went to press on Wednesday, the R200 note featuring the leopard was worth about $11. Twenty years ago, it fetched $25. A leopard may not change its spots, but the paper it’s printed on certainly does. DM/BM

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