Friday, November 2, 2012

New Bank notes for SA

The establishment of the new banknotes to be released in early November 2012 is advantageous for tourism. It serves as a symbol of an icon that is well known and respected worldwide, namely Nelson Mandela on one side and the Big Five on the other. The second advantage is that it prevents the circulation of counterfeit money because of the improved security features.Tourists should familiarize themselves with the security features of the new banknotes in order to be able to identify their authenticity by utilizing the look, feel and tilt method.

The look: Identify the security, technical and design features incorporated both on the front and the back of the banknote. These features are the watermark, main motif, security thread, unique numbering, Coat of Arms, perfect print registration, micro-printingand the size of the new banknotes.

The feel: Feel the texture of the banknote paper. Some printing of the banknotes is raised from the surface of the paper. Intaglio, or raised printing, is a printing technique that gives the banknote a unique and rough feel, quite unlike the printing on a newspaper or book, which has a smooth feel to it. Raised printing is applied on the new banknotes on both sides of the banknotes.

The tilt: (Hidden/latent image); when you hold a new banknote almost horizontally to your eyes, the denomination numeral appears in the band below the image of Nelson Mandela.

South African Reserve Bank