Connecting the dots to verify
Barely visible dots on the front and back of the Nelson Mandela banknotes are the latest safety measure that has been introduced by the South African Reserve Bank in their constant quest to ensure the high level of security and quality of South African banknotes.
POLOKWANE – Barely visible dots on the front and back of the Nelson Mandela banknotes are the latest safety measure that has been introduced by the South African Reserve Bank in their constant quest to ensure the high level of security and quality of South African banknotes.
Earlier this month it was announced by reserve bank governor, Gill Marcus, that the banknotes featuring these la-test safety measures are now in circulation.
According to Marcus, the new dots would be visible on the left of the notes next to picture of Mandela and on the right next to the picture of the animal.
Other features that could be used to tell the difference between a fake and the real thing include easy identification by means of “look, feel and tilt”.
Look:
• An image of Mandela should appear on the left hand side as a watermark.
• The animal that is on the back of the note should appear within a circle on the bottom left hand side of the front of the bank note.
• The denomination numeral appears in micro-lettering in the animals to the left of the image of Mandela. This feature can only be seen using a magnifying glass. Micro-printing also appears on the back of the new banknote.
Feel:
• Raised printing: The raised features on the new banknote include the denomination numeral, main motif on the front of the new banknote (image of Mandela), words “South African Reserve Bank” and Coat of Arms, motif on the back of the new banknote.
• Feature for the visually impaired: Raised lines on the bottom left and right-hand sides on the front of the new banknote.
Tilt:
• Security thread: The security thread colour will change to the colour of the respective banknote. In the security thread, you will see the number, the Coat of Arms as well as the words “SARB” and “Rand”.
• Colour-changing ink: The number on the bottom right of the R10 and R20 has colour-changing ink, while the R50, R100 and R200 have SPARK colour-changing ink that has a rolling-bar effect.
• Hidden image: When a new banknote is held almost horizontally to your eyes, the denomination numeral appears in the band below the image of Mandela.
