Catalog
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| Issuer | Bank of Namibia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1996 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Thomas De La Rue & Company |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by an intaglio portrait of Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi at centre-right, rendered in brown tones against a guilloche underprint with traditional Namibian geometric motifs in the lateral borders. A vignette of a colonial-era building appears to the right of the portrait, while the value numeral '20' is printed in large format at upper-left and lower-right. The 'BANK OF NAMIBIA' inscription runs along the top margin, with the denomination 'TWENTY NAMIBIA DOLLARS' and 'N$20' at bottom. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 20 BANK OF NAMIBIA TWENTY NAMIBIA DOLLARS N$ 20 |
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| Comments |
Namibia's first domestic currency series launched in 1993, replacing the South African Rand at par — a deliberate act of economic separation from a country Namibia had only broken from three years earlier. The Bank of Namibia's early notes were entirely dependent on Thomas De La Rue for both design and production, a relationship common among newly independent African states with no printing infrastructure of their own.
Jaafar B. Ahmad served as Governor from 1993 to 1999, so his signature appears across much of the first-series output. The P#5 designation covers multiple signature and date variants, worth distinguishing when cataloging.