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Jun 20, 2023 · Staff Writer. · 20 Jun 2023. Since 1994, South Africa has seen three notable changes to its banknotes, which included alterations to the notes’ visual features, sizing, and language. Over the ...
Nov 6, 2012 · The first banknotes featuring the face of Nelson Mandela have gone into circulation in South Africa. They are the first South African notes to bear the image of a black person - they replace notes ...
May 11, 2023 · In addition to their artistic brilliance, the new South African banknotes incorporate state-of-the-art security features that set new benchmarks in counterfeit prevention. These advanced measures ensure the integrity of the currency, safeguarding the nation's financial system and the trust of its citizens. The notes utilize advanced printing ...
2 days ago · The upgraded banknotes and fourth decimal coin series have new designs and enhanced security features that utilise the latest technological advancements to protect the integrity of our currency and maintain public trust. The upgraded banknotes continue to pay homage to South Africa's first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, with ...
- Overview
- United States
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- Mongolia
- Dominican Republic
As a tangible symbol of a nation’s identity, banknotes are a window into history—from South Africa’s reckoning with apartheid to the challenges of building a unified country after Bosnia’s civil war.
Emblazoned with mottos, emblems, and historical imagery, money is one of the most tangible symbols of a nation’s identity. As that identity evolves, so too does the design of the country’s coins and banknotes—and the process can be fraught.
That has been the case in the United States with a plan to make abolitionist Harriet Tubman the face of the $20 bill, replacing former U.S. President Andrew Jackson. Although the U.S. Treasury had hoped to issue the design in time for the women’s suffrage centennial in 2020, the plan languished under President Donald Trump, who had criticized it as “political correctness.” Now, however, the Biden administration has announced it will move forward with the redesign.
But how do countries determine whose portraits to feature on their currency, and what does it tell us about their pasts? Here’s a look at banknotes from around the world and the stories behind their creation—from the delicate negotiations to create a Bosnian currency in the wake of civil war, to the nations that have used their currency as a way to move on from colonialism and reckon with racist pasts.
In 1866, controversy erupted when the U.S. Treasury issued a five-cent note bearing the portrait of Spencer Clark, the first chief of what is now known as the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. Clark was not well liked by some members of Congress, who had accused him years earlier of fraud and “gross immorality.” (A Congressional committee dismissed the charges.)
Following public outcry, Congress passed a law on April 7, 1866, which prohibited depicting the “portrait or likeness of any living person” on the country’s currency. U.S. law still prohibits using the likeness of living people today, and even commemorative coins honoring a past president cannot be issued until two years after the president’s death.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s banknotes bear the images of the country’s famous writers, but that decision was driven more by conflict avoidance than literary admiration. In 1995, the Dayton Accords brought an end to years of civil war in Bosnia and created a single state with two parts, the Serb Republic and the Croat-Bosniak Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Similarly, the new nation would have a single currency, the Bosnian convertible mark, but would issue two versions of each denomination to reflect the cultural identity of each side. The banknotes still had to be cohesive, however, and initial submissions were rejected for violating that requirement—including one controversial design featuring Serb hero Gavrilo Princip, famous for setting off World War I by assassinating Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Left: In the wake of a bitter civil war, Bosnia and Herzegovina created two versions of each banknote to represent its split cultural identity. Thus, some of the country’s 50-mark notes feature 20th-century Bosniak poet Musa Ćazim Ćatić, pictured here, and others honor Serb poet Jovan Dučić.
Right: Similarly, one version of the country’s 100-mark note features Serb writer and activist Petar Kočić, pictured here, and the other bears the image of Bosnian-Croat poet Nikola Šop.
New Zealand’s banknote design has been “an unintentional litmus test of New Zealand’s evolving self-image” ever since it began issuing currency in 1934, according to historian Matthew Wright. The British dominion’s first banknotes reflected a split identity, bearing both British and local motifs. The earliest series bore a portrait of Māori King Tawhaio, whose image was replaced in 1940 with Captain James Cook, the British explorer who “discovered” New Zealand.
New Zealand became a self-governing nation in 1947—yet in 1967, more than 20 years later, it was still proud of its association with Britain. Queen Elizabeth II displaced Cook on all denominations, alongside indigenous plants and birds.
Left: Queen Elizabeth II appears on a 1954 Canadian two-dollar bill. Canada became the first country to include the queen’s likeness on its currency in 1935. Britain would print its first note with the queen 25 years later.
Right: Queen Elizabeth II has appeared on currency in more than 30 countries—however, many have since removed her likeness after leaving Britain’s colonial rule. In 1991, New Zealand redesigned its currency to feature local figures, such as Māori political and cultural leader Sir Apirana Ngata who appears on the 50-dollar note.
Like New Zealand, the evolution of South Africa’s banknotes reflects the country’s reckoning with its colonial history. In 1961, it issued its first banknotes after gaining independence from Great Britain. In tribute to its colonial beginnings, however, each bill bore a portrait of Jan van Riebeeck, a Dutch explorer who in 1652 founded the trading station that would become Cape Town
Van Riebeeck remained the face of the nation’s currency for three decades. In 1992, however, as South Africa grappled with dismantling its racist apartheid system, he was finally replaced with its iconic “big five” animals—the rhinoceros, elephant, lion, Cape buffalo, and leopard—that were deemed more representative of (and acceptable to) South Africans.
Twenty years later, South Africa made another big change. In 2012, the country unveiled new banknotes featuring the country’s first Black president and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela. “A country’s currency is a fundamental component of its national identity,” said South African Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus, explaining that the new design “reflects South Africa’s pride as a nation.” Mandela remains the face of South African currency—and in 2018 the country even issued a commemorative series of banknotes depicting scenes from Mandela’s life to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Left: In a nod to its colonial past, the first banknotes South Africa issued after achieving its independence in 1961 featured Jan van Riebeeck, a 17th-century Dutch explorer who founded the trading post that became Cape Town. He would remain on the currency for 30 years.
Mongolia traces its monetary history to the 13th-century rule of Genghis Khan. He transformed the nation from a pastoral economy to a global powerhouse, creating the largest contiguous empire in history. Although Genghis Khan introduced gold and silver coins to the empire, it would be his grandson, Kublai Khan, who would widely implement paper money. (Learn more about the Mongols.)
Mongolia has kept things relatively simple with just two prominent figures on its banknotes: its famous ancient ruler Genghis Khan, and revolutionary hero Damdin Sükhbaatar, who led the Mongolian army to victory over their Chinese occupiers in 1921.
Left: Some countries look to ancient history to reflect their national pride. In Mongolia, Genghis Khan appears on the higher denominations of Mongolian currency from 500 to 20,000 togrogs. The 13th-century ruler conquered most of Eurasia to build the largest contiguous empire in history.
Right: In Tunisia, the five-dinar note features another ancient military commander who helped build an empire. Carthaginian general Hannibal is still renowned today for his heroic battles against Rome in the Second Punic War in 218 B.C.
The Dominican Republic’s 200-peso note pays homage to three sisters who organized a resistance movement against dictator Rafael Trujillo—and whose murder kicked off a revolution.
After rising to power in 1930, Trujillo ruthlessly ruled over the Dominican Republic. He imprisoned, tortured, or murdered anyone who spoke out against him. In the 1950s, the Mirabal sisters—Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa—became leaders in the resistance movement that sought to end the brutal regime. Trujillo repeatedly arrested and imprisoned them before ultimately ordering their assassination on November 25, 1960.
Left: Maria Teresa Mirabal and her older sisters Patria and Minerva, who appear on the Dominican Republic’s 200-peso note, are symbols not only of the country’s revolution but of the global effort to end violence against women after their brutal murder by dictator Rafael Trujillo.
Right: In Ukraine, the 200-hryvnia banknote honors one of its foremost feminist writers, Lesia Ukrainka. The internationally recognized poet and playwright tackled themes of gender and ethnic equality in her works that were published around the turn of the 20th century.
Jun 28, 2022 · Born on July 18, 1918, into the Madiba tribe in the Mvezo village in the Eastern Cape. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African revolutionary who was the country’s first black head of state and the first president. At the young age of 12, Nelson became a ward of Jongintaba Dalindyebo. He is his guardian when his father Nkosi Mphakanyiswa ...
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May 3, 2023 · On Thursday May 4, South Africans will start encountering cash in new forms as the Reserve Bank’s new design money is released on the market. The entire range of banknotes and coins have been ...
