2 — Two Pula
The artwork
Front: Blue and pale green throughout. At the left, the portrait of Sir Seretse Khama, first President of Botswana, in jacket and tie — the face of the country's earliest own currency. To the right of centre, a long-tailed bird perched on a branch within an ornate rosette. Above it the two signatures, captioned MINISTER OF FINANCE and GOVERNOR; below, "This note is legal tender for Two Pula". Serial number in fraction style, B/24, printed twice.
Back: The Setswana side: "Banka ya Botswana" above, "Pula tse Pedi" below, with the figure 2 in each corner and heavy engine-turned panels down both edges. Between them a village scene in line engraving — a seated woman coiling a large basket, another pounding grain with a mortar, a man squatting at work and a thatched roof under construction behind him. The printer's imprint runs along the bottom margin.
In circulation
Botswana left the rand area and issued its own pula notes in 1976; this Khama design belongs to that first family. After his death in 1980 the portrait gave way to that of his successor, Quett Masire, on the notes that followed, and the two-pula denomination was later dropped from paper altogether in favour of a coin.
Details
- IssuerBank of Botswana / Banka ya Botswana
- CurrencyPula
- DenominationTwo Pula
- Collectedon the Botswana journeys, 1992–2003
- SeriesFirst pula issue, undated (from 1976)
- PrinterThomas De La Rue and Company, Limited (imprint on back)
- SignatureTwo: Minister of Finance and Governor