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“ZAR” redirects here. For the former republic, see South African Republic.
Image:Randcurrency.jpg New rand notes series Image:RandCurrencyR5coinsOldNew.jpg The old and new R5 coins The rand is the currency of South Africa. It takes its name from the Witwatersrand (White-waters-ridge in Afrikaans), the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. It was first introduced in 1961, coinciding with the establishment of the Republic of South Africa. It replaced the South African pound as legal tender, at the rate of two rand per pound or ten shillings to the rand. The rand has the symbol 'R' and is divided into 100 cents, symbol 'c'.
CoinsCoins are available in and seven denominations, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, R1, R2 and R5. 1 and 2 cent coins were also available until their discontinuation in April 2002, primarily due to inflation devaluing them. ½ cent coin was also available at least for the year 1961. All prices are now rounded to the nearest 5c and the coins are no longer in circulation. In an effort to curb counterfeiting, a new R5 coin was released in August 2004 as well as new banknotes in February 2005. Security features introduced on the coin include a bi-metal design (similar to the €1 and €2 coins, the British £2 coin and the Canadian $2 coin), a specially-serrated security groove along the rim and micro-lettering. The new notes also feature a number of new security features. BanknotesThe first series of rand banknotes was issued in R1, R2, R10, and R20, with similar design and colour to their predecessor to ease the transition. They bore the image of Jan van Riebeeck, the first V.O.C. administrator of Cape Town. And just like the last pound notes, they had two variants: English written first and Afrikaans written first.
The 1978 series saw a major design change. In addition, this series has only one variant. Afrikaans was the first language on R2, R10, R50, while English was the first language on R5 and R20. They still bore the image of Jan van Riebeeck. In the 1990s, the notes were redesigned with images of the Big Five wildlife species. The 2005 series has the same principal design, but with additional security features such as colour shifting ink on R50 or higher and EURion constellation. The fronts of all denominations are printed in English, while two other unique languages are printed on the back, making all eleven official languages of South Africa available. They are currently available in R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200. Brief exchange rate historyA rand was worth more than a U.S. dollar from the time of its inception in 1961 until 1982, when mounting political pressure combined with sanctions placed against the country because of apartheid started to erode its value. The currency broke above parity with the dollar for the first time in March 1982, and continued to trade between R1–R1.30 to the dollar until June 1984, when depreciation of the currency gained momentum. By February of 1985, it was trading at over R2 per dollar, and in July that year all foreign exchange trading was suspended for 3 days to try and stop the devaluation. By the time that State President PW Botha made his infamous Rubicon speech on 15 August 1985, it had weakened to R2.40 per dollar. The currency recovered somewhat between 1986–88, trading near the R2 level most of the time and even breaking beneath it sporadically. The recovery was short-lived however, and by the end of 1989 the rand was trading at levels of more than R2.50 per dollar. As it became clear in the early 1990s that the country was destined for black majority rule and one reform after the other was announced, uncertainty about the future of the country hastened the depreciation until the level of R3 to the dollar was breached in November 1992. A host of local and international events influenced the currency after that, most notably the 1994 democratic election which saw it weaken to over R3.60 to the dollar, the election of Tito Mboweni as the new governor of the South African Reserve Bank, and the inauguration of President Thabo Mbeki in 1999 which saw it quickly slide to over R6 to the dollar. The controversial land reform program that was kicked off in Zimbabwe, followed by the September 11, 2001 attacks, propelled it to its weakest historical level of R13.84 to the dollar in December 2001. This sudden depreciation in 2001 led to a formal investigation, which in turn led to a dramatic recovery. By the end of 2002, the currency was trading at under R9 to the dollar again, and by the end of 2004 was trading at under R5.70 to the dollar. The currency softened somewhat in 2005, and was trading at around R6.35 to the dollar at the end of the year. At the start of 2006 however, the currency resumed its rally, and as of 19 January 2006 was trading at under R6 to the dollar once again. During 2006 and early 2007, the rand has gained slightly and now sits at about R7 to the dollar. Current ZAR exchange rates
Trivia
See alsoReferences
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