Currency history
South African rand — origin and Namibia context
South African rand: a currency still in use.
- Dates in use
- Still in use; introduction date not established here
- Currency code
- ZAR
- Ancestry branch
- Sterling
Follow the connections
Where this money came from
8 ancestors · 4 descendants. Follow a name to its history. Select a dated connection for its evidence.
DocumentedQualified
Predecessor
South African pound1961Documented0.5 South African pound = 1 ZAR
This currencyZAR
South African randSuccessor or branchBWP
Botswana pula1976Documented1 ZAR = 1 BWP
Successor or branchSZL
Swazi lilangeni1974Documented1 ZAR = 1 SZL
Successor or branchLSL
Lesotho loti1980Documented1 ZAR = 1 LSL
Show 1 more successor
Successor or branchNAD
Namibia dollar1993Documented1 ZAR = 1 NAD
The story
The rand replaced the South African pound on 14 February 1961; the issuer's decimal-coin account equates one pound with two rand. [1]
Turning points
Decimal currency replacement
South Africa replaced its pound with two rand per pound. [2]
Sources and evidence
- South African Reserve Bank · History of banknotes and coin C509 ↗
- South African Reserve Bank · History of banknotes and coin C948 ↗
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Cite this page
“South African rand — origin and Namibia context.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Reader edition 2026-10-13; research dataset v44. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/T-FTM000529.html