The Central Bank has warned of the existence of counterfeit P100 and P200 banknotes in circulation.
In a statement, Bank of Botswana said the counterfeits are photo/scan copies of genuine P100 and P200 banknotes. The P100 counterfeits bear serial numbers AB0732489 and AB3935246 and those of the P200 bear serial numbers AA9390540 and AB1514118.
“The counterfeits have a holographic stripe bearing the words “Botswana Copyrights Office” on the position of the genuine stripe. The stripe on the counterfeits covers some of the lettering on the words “Bank of Botswana” near the top part of the banknote,” a statement released by Andrew Sesinyi, Head of Communications at Bank of Botswana, said.
Sesinyi added that the windowed security thread appears as black patches at the back of the counterfeits.
The forged banknotes are made from ordinary commercial paper; the result is that they have a smooth surface when compared to genuine banknotes and have different shades of the purple and blue colours of the P200 and P100 banknotes, respectively.
The holographic stripe of a genuine P200 banknote appears as a wide silver coloured stripe on the front of the banknote with switching images of a zebra’s head and the number “200”. Similarly, that of a P100 has switching images of a diamond and the number “100”.
“The two images on both the P200 and P100 do not show at the same time; they alternate from one to another when the banknote is tilted from side to side. The words “Bank of Botswana” near the top of the genuine banknotes are printed over the holographic stripe and can be seen clearly.”
Furthermore, both the genuine P200 and P100 have each a windowed security thread at the back that changes colour from red to green, according to the viewing angle. When held up to light, the thread can be seen as a continuous line reading “BoB 200” on the P200 and “BoB 100” on the P100. The public is urged to be vigilant and exercise caution when accepting banknotes from any source, and should closely examine the specified security features.
Sesinyi advised that any suspicious banknotes should be reported immediately to the nearest Police Station or Bank of Botswana offices in Gaborone or Francistown.
