Catalog
100 Rand With Omron rings
| Issuer | South African Reserve Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 2014 |
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| Printer | South African Bank Note Company, Pretoria, South Africa (1958) |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait of Nelson Mandela facing left at centre-right, rendered in fine engraved lines against a blue and gold guilloche underprint incorporating traditional geometric patterns. The South African coat of arms appears at upper left, flanked by the bank title 'SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK' in blue letterpress across the top; a vertical colour-shifting security thread with microtext 'SARB 100 RAND' bisects the note. The denomination '100' appears in large numerals at lower left in blue and at lower right with an optically variable ink element shifting between blue and green, with 'ONE HUNDRED RAND' inscribed vertically along the right margin. |
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| Reverse description | Central intaglio vignette of an African buffalo (Cape buffalo) in three-quarter frontal view, its massive horns curving broadly against a circular guilloche rosette in gold and pink. The background carries multicolour geometric underprint motifs drawn from Ndebele and other South African cultural traditions, with small vignettes of human figures at left and lower right margins. The denomination '100' appears at upper left and in large numerals at centre-right, with 'ONE HUNDRED RAND' running vertically along the right margin. |
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| Comments |
The Omron rings — a pattern of small concentric circles embedded in the note's design — are a counterfeit deterrent aimed at reprographic equipment rather than the human eye. Most modern photocopiers and scanners are programmed to detect this pattern and refuse to reproduce the image, a technology developed by Omron Corporation and quietly adopted by numerous central banks. Their presence as a named distinguishing feature on this Pick 141 variant suggests the pattern was added or made more prominent relative to the standard issue, enough to warrant a separate catalog listing.
Kganyago succeeded Gill Marcus as SARB Governor in November 2014, making his signature notes among the first issued under the post-Mandela-era iconographic shift to the Big Five wildlife series.