50 Rand

Pick 122 spans a politically turbulent window — the mid-1980s declared state of emergency, international sanctions, and the eventual unbanning of the ANC in 1990. The South African Bank Note Company had been printing domestically since the early 1980s, ending the country's long reliance on Bradbury Wilkinson in the UK, a shift partly accelerated by sanctions pressure making foreign commercial contracts uncomfortable for overseas printers.

Two governors signed across the series: G. de Kock, who died in office in 1989, and his successor C.L. Stals. Notes bearing de Kock's signature are the earlier printings; Stals examples date from 1989 onward.