This article written by Wendy Knowler of Consumer Watch fame and that appeared on East Coast Radios website clearly lays out the basics with regard to the old the new and counterfeit R200 notes.
R200 notes - New, Old and Counterfeit
As a response to the counterfeit problem, last month the SA Reserve Bank put out a statement announcing the recall of all old R200 notes in order to arrive at a situation where only the new R200 notes remain in circulation.
The statement read: “Members of the public are requested to present these banknotes for exchange at the nearest commercial bank by the end of May 2010.
“After this date it will only be possible to present these banknotes to the South African Reserve Bank Branches for exchange.”
Each bank appears to come up with its own policies regarding the exchange: one is telling its customers to simply deposit the old notes into their accounts, another is insisting that the process be done face-to-face with a teller, and the creation of a paper trail of signed document in order to avoid a dispute over which notes were handed in an accepted.
So what’s the deal with shops and restaurants which are refusing to accept any R200 notes?
Well, quite simply, they are not within their rights to do so.
The old-series R200 notes remain legal tender, as long as they aren’t counterfeit, and any business can easily tell the difference between the fake and real.
And certainly there’s no excuse for refusing to accept the new R200 notes as they not the ones which have been counterfeited.
This is the Reserve Bank’s opinion, so quote it if any establishment refuses to take one of these notes.
If a business can’t be bothered to educate itself about a currency issue, do they deserve custom? You decide.
So, how DO you tell the difference between the three R200 notes – the genuine old-series, the fake old-series, and the new?
Here are a few pointers:
On the fake old-series R200 note, in the right bottom corner, there is a small green flower to the right of the leopard’s head.
On the real note, that flower has a lot more detail – small, well defined fine lines within the flower’s petals, compared with the fake where the petals are more solid green, especially in the centre.
If you use a magnifying glass on the brown area on the right of the leopard’s head, it should very clearly read: South African Reserve Bank. Even under magnification, those words are not legible on the counterfeit note.
As for the new-series R200 notes, they have a very prominent SA coat of arms in the front top left corner, in the iridescent band on the back of the note, and as a holographic image in the security thread of the note.
It has the denomination printed in colour changing ink on the front bottom right.
The colour of the print changes from magenta to green when the note is tilted.
The quickest way to tell that it’s a new R200 note - is the presence of five raised diamond shapes on the front of the note......
The original article may be viewed at :
http://www.ecr.co.za/kagiso/content/en/east-coast-radio/east-coast-radio-blogs-consumerwatch?oid=749939&sn=Detail&pid=490476&Clearing-up-the-R200-note-confusion
