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200 Rand 2005, South Africa

in Krause book Number: 132a
Years of issue: 2005 - 2009
Edition:
Signatures: Governor: Mr. Tito Mboweni (08.08.1999 - 08.11.2009).
Serie: 2005 Fourth Issue "English & Other Official Languages"
Specimen of: 2005
Material: Cotton fiber
Size (mm): 152 x 70
Printer: South African Bank Note Company (Pty) Ltd, Pretoria

* All pictures marked magnify are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.

** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.

200 Rand 2005

Description

Watermark:

Panthera pardus pardus

The African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) and denomination 200.

Avers:

200 Rand 2005

Closeup of Leopards head. On background is the leopard, lying on branch of tree.

centered, on background, is an African savanna.

Panthera pardus pardus

The African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) is a leopard subspecies native to Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been fragmented in the course of habitat conversion.

African leopards exhibit great variation in coat color, depending on location and habitat. Coat color varies from pale yellow to deep gold or tawny, and sometimes black, and is patterned with black rosettes while the head, lower limbs and belly are spotted with solid black. Male leopards are larger, averaging 60 kg. (130 lb.) with 91 kg. (201 lb.) being the maximum weight attained by a male. Females weigh about 35 to 40 kg. (77 to 88 lb.) on average.

Leopards inhabiting the mountains of the Cape Provinces appear physically different from leopards further north. Their average weight may be only half that of the more northerly leopard.

African leopards inhabited a wide range of habitats within Africa, from mountainous forests to grasslands and savannahs, excluding only extremely sandy desert. They are most at risk in areas of semi-desert, where scarce resources often result in conflict with nomadic farmers and their livestock.

In lower left corner is a coincides image, as security measure.

Denomination in numeral is centered, in words are on right and left sides.

Revers:

200 Rand 2005

Transport and telecommunication.

On left side is a big satellite dish, symbolizing telecommunication.

Centered, above, are three images.

Left one reminds a the turbine of an aircraft, centered image - stylized wheel of car/truck/tractor and right one reminds the wheel of an Electric locomotive - as symbols of Transport.

Bloukrans BridgeCentered, lower is Bloukrans Bridge.

The Bloukrans Bridge is an arch bridge located near Nature's Valley, Western Cape, South Africa. Constructed between February 1980 and June 1983, the bridge stands at a height of 216 meters above the Bloukrans River. Its central span is 272 meters and the bridge is 451 meters in length in total. Its primary use is that of a road bridge, carrying national route N2.

Bloukrans Bridge is the site of the worlds highest commercial bungee jumping, Bloukrans Bridge Bungy, operated by Face Adrenalin since 1997. The Bloukrans River below forms the border between the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces and is located in the Tsitsikamma region of the Garden Route.

Languages on banknote: English, Sotho, Zulu.

Comments:

In the 1990s, the notes were redesigned with images of the Big Five wildlife species. 10, 20 and 50 rand notes were introduced in 1992, retaining the colour scheme of the previous issue. Coins were introduced for 2 rand and 5 rand, replacing the notes of the previous series, mainly because of the severe wear and tear experienced with low denomination notes in circulation. In 1994 notes were introduced for 100 and 200 rand.

The 2005 series has the same principal design, but with additional security features such as color shifting ink on the 50 rand and higher and the EURion constellation. The obverses of all denominations are printed in English, while two other languages are printed on the reverses, thus making use of all eleven official languages of South Africa.

In Africa, the big five game animals are the African lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, African leopard, and White/Black rhinoceros.

The term big five game (sometimes capitalized or quoted as "Big Five") was coined by big-game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. Subsequently the term was adopted by safari tour operators for marketing purposes. The term is used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris. The members of the Big Five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting them and the degree of danger involved, rather than their size.