100 Namibia Dollars

Namibia gained independence from South Africa in March 1990, but the South African Rand remained legal tender for three years while the new central bank prepared its own currency infrastructure. The Namibia Dollar launched in September 1993 on a strict one-to-one peg with the Rand — a peg that still holds — making this first-series note part of a carefully managed transition rather than a clean break.

Thomas De La Rue handled the entire inaugural series. Erik Karlsson served as the Bank of Namibia's first Governor, appointed in 1990, making his signature on these early notes something of a founding document for the institution itself.