Rand (currency)

The old R1 and new R10 bank notes

The Rand is the currency of South Africa. It was first introduced in 1961, when South Africa became an independent Republic, replacing the South African Pound as legal tender. One Rand is divided into 100 cents. The Rand is available as 5 bills (R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200) and 9 coins (1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, R1, R2 and R5).

The first banknotes bore the image of Jan van Riebeeck the first Dutch administrator of Cape Town. In the 1980s, the notes were redesigned with images of indigenous big game animals, such as the rhinoceros, lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, etc.

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, and the British £2 coin), a specially-serrated security groove along the rim and micro-lettering. The new notes also feature a number of new security features.

Brief exchange rate history

The South African rand was stronger than the U.S. dollar from the time of its inception in 1961 until 1982, when mounting political pressure as well as sanctions placed against the country because of the governments policy of apartheid started to erode its value. The currency broke above the $1=R1 level for the first time in March 1982 and continued to trade within the $1=R1 to $1=R1.30 range until June 1984 when the depreciation gained momentum. By February of 1985 it was trading at over R2 per dollar, and in July 1985 all foreign exchange trading was suspended for 3 days to try and stop the devaluation.

By the time that PW Botha – the then President of the Republic – made his famous Rubicon speech on the 15th of August 1985 it had weakened to R2.40 per dollar. The currency recovered somewhat in the 1986-1988 period, 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 continued the trend of depreciation until the level of R3 to the dollar was breached in November 1992.

The currency has since been influenced by a host of local and international events, most notably the national elections in 1994 which saw it weaken to over R3.60 to the dollar, election of the new governor of the Reserve Bank, Tito Mboweni and the inauguration of President Thabo Mbeki in 1999 which saw it quickly slide to over R6 to the dollar and the controversial land reform program kicking off in Zimbabwe, followed by the September 11, 2001 attacks propelling it to its weakest historical level of R13.84 to the dollar in December 2001.

The sudden depreciation of the rand in 2001 led to an investigation into the depreciation of the currency, which in turn resulted in it making 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 has since softened somewhat and as of 7 May 2005 is trading at R6.05 to the dollar.

The old and new R5 coins

Quick facts about the currency

Replaced the SA Pound in 1961 as legal tender.
Available as 5 bills and 7 coins as of 2005.
Minting of 1 and 2 cent coins was halted in April 2002.
The ISO currency code is ZAR, and the usual notation is the prefix R.
The currency was named after the Witwatersrand gold mining region.
The plural of rand is rand, it does not become rands.
The rand was stronger than the US Dollar until March 1982.
The strongest historic level: R1 bought US$1.49992 on the 5th of June 1973
The weakest historic level: $1 bought R13.84 on the 21st of December 2001
Exchange rate (7/05/2005): 1 USD = R6.05, 1 EUR = R7.74, 1 GBP = R11.44

Rand (currency)

External links