5 Maloti

Lesotho's first banknotes were issued in 1979, two years after the Central Bank was established — a delayed transition from the rand, which had circulated freely under the Rand Monetary Area agreement since independence in 1966. The maloti was introduced at par with the rand, and that parity relationship was maintained for decades, complicating public uptake of the new notes in a country whose economy remained deeply intertwined with South Africa.

Bradbury Wilkinson printed the entire inaugural series. The signatures here — Finance Minister E.R. Sekhonyana paired with Governor E.K. Molemohi — place this example firmly in the early 1980s transitional window before the series was revised.