Banknote Database made by collectors, for collectors
Lesotho's 2010 Maloti
November 27, 2022 @ 20:42
Lesotho is a small country surrounded by South Africa with their own currency, the Maloti (plural of Loti). The currency got off to a rough start and, while being technically created in 1966, it didn’t get around to start replacing the South African rand until 1980. 30 years later, the Bank of Lesotho redesigned the banknotes to celebrate that 30th anniversary and slow the spread of counterfeits. The release on 11 March 2011 coincided with “Moshoeshoe Day”, a celebration of the nation’s history. The 2010 series went through a series of design revisions starting in 2009 that started with Lesotho’s various Prime Ministers, the paramount chiefs of local tribes, and the current royal family including Queens until arriving at the final design.
The 2010 series and the present series constitute one of the rare occasions where multiple portraits of people appear on the face of the banknotes. In this case, three kings are shown: The current king, Letsie III in the middle with his father Moshoeshoe II on the left. The man in the top hat to the right is King Moshoeshoe I. Moshoeshoe I had over 100 wives and died in 1870 and he’s considered the founder of the Basotho nation state. One of his many ancestors, Moshoeshoe II, was crowned in 1966 and reigned for 4 years before being deposed and exiled for about thirty years (with a series of interregnums) and then came back to reign for a year before dying mysteriously after his car careened off a cliff in the middle of the night. His son Letsie III became monarch and reigns to this day. The fraught nature of the nation’s monarchial history has been boiled down on the banknotes to one continuous historical reign. All three kings appear together in an uninterrupted portrait to imply continuity. While the monarchy in Lesotho is largely ceremonial, unlike nearby eSwatini, the portraits serve their purpose. It’s a good portrait, and it’s difficult to put multiple people on the face of a banknote and not have it look awkward or disconnected. Done at De La Rue, each king was actually engraved by a different artist. Robert Bevan created the portrait of Moshoeshoe II, Stephen Matthews Moshoeshoe I, and King Letsie III by Agnes Miski Török, who considers it one of her best works. Matthews then went and balanced the three into the harmonious portrait we see today. Looking closely, variations in the hair and facial construction can be seen denoting each artists’ work. The series was reworked in 2021 with extra security features.
The reverse scenes on each note were provided by the bank to De La Rue and showcase a pastoral, rural country. Nothing urban is shown and only rarely are human constructs. Horseman, herders, and flowers. No specific places are shown with the exception of Malealea the 20 maloti note, which shows houses decorated in traditional colorful litema artwork. The original 2010 issue featured two people in the doorway of one of the houses, they seem to be embracing when viewed close enough. Taking issue with this, the bank had DLR remove the couple for the 2013 printing and subsequent issues.
