Catalog
2 Pula
| Issuer | Bank of Botswana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1976 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A detailed intaglio vignette across the centre-right depicts rural Botswana life: a woman weaving a traditional basket in the foreground at left, while at right a man works grain with a hand tool; further figures carry loads on their heads against a background of thatched village huts. The denomination numeral 2 appears in guilloche cartouches at each corner, and the printer's imprint is visible at lower centre. |
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| Protection description | Rearing zebra |
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| Comments |
Botswana's pula replaced the South African rand at par on 23 August 1976, a deliberate severing of the monetary link to Pretoria that had persisted since independence in 1966. The ten-year delay was not indecision — it reflected the practical difficulties of building a central bank and mint infrastructure from scratch in a landlocked, sparsely populated country still heavily dependent on South African trade networks.
Thomas De La Rue handled the entire inaugural pula series. Pick 2 is among the first notes ever issued under the Bank of Botswana name.