1 Pula

Botswana adopted the pula in 1976, replacing the South African rand at par — a deliberate act of monetary separation from Pretoria at a time when neighboring states were navigating their economic entanglement with apartheid South Africa. The name itself means "rain" in Setswana, a word that doubles as a blessing in a country where rainfall is scarce and agriculturally decisive.

The series ran through 1987 without major compositional revision, an unusual consistency for a newly independent African nation managing the commodity pressures of that decade.