The Voice (Francistown)
29 April 2008
Francistown — The public is informed that there are fake P100 and P50 bank notes in circulation.
According to a communiqué from Bank of Botswana, the fake notes are photo/scanned copies of genuine bank notes and thus, metallic features such as the hologram and windowed security thread appear as black/grey or brown patches on the surface of bank notes.
The release notes that the counterfeits have in some cases, applied a thin film of a silver coloured substance on the hologram to give it a shiny effect so as to like a genuine note.
"In other instances there is a shiny glue like substance on the windowed security thread to give it a shiny appearance." In addition, some of the counterfeit notes are printed on a paper that closely approximates a genuine banknote material but are slightly thicker and coarser than ordinary printing paper, have a rough feel and are ultra violet neutral.
The public is reminded that the following features are contained in the genuine bank notes; the hologram is silver coloured dual-image metallic patch. The press release says the image of the zebra and the number 100 on the P100 banknote hologram should not all appear at the same time, but should switch from one to the other when the banknote is tilted, and small diamonds should appear in the background. Furthermore, the release highlights that the images of the kingfisher and the number 50 on the P50 banknote hologram should not appear at the same time, but should switch from one to the other when the banknote is tilted, with small kingfishers appearing in the background. It also notes that the windowed security thread is a metal strip woven into the banknote and it changes colour from red to green, according to the viewing angle.
When held up to the light, the thread appears as a continuous line reading "BoB 50" and "BoB 100" on the P50 and P100 bank notes, respectively. The public is urged to be vigilant and exercise care when accepting bank notes from any source, especially old and worn-out bank notes and should closely examine the specified security features.
It says any suspicious bank notes discovered should be immediately reported to the nearest police station or Bank of Botswana offices in Gaborone and Francistown.
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