Sesel Sa! January - March 2015 Jan - March 2015 | Page 32

management of the currency in 1978 on the 1st
December and decided to adopt in February 1979 the
letters “SR” for identifying the rupee, then the Central
Bank of Seychelles replaced the Monetary Authority in
1983 so all the legal tender notes carried its name. In
1979, the Central Bank redesigned the notes to feature
a “more socialist and modernized theme which was
more representative of the René Regime” however
in 1989, there was a need for new security measures
and a new series was introduced with better security
features and colours.

THE THIRD REPUBLIC

According to the Central Bank, the only changes to the
currency in the Third Republic have been in a quest to
produce higher standard notes and in 1998, another
“more high-tech series was introduced with a more
practical, ergonomic design”. This series later had an
additional 500-rupee note first seen in 2005.

2011, THE HIGHER SECURITY UPGRADE

On June 7, 2011, the Central Bank of Seychelles issued
updated 50, 100 and 500 rupees notes with improved
security features. They explained that the advent of
technology required that the Seychelles also keep up
with the new security measures. The colour schemes
of the notes were revised, with the notes being more
green, red, and orange, than the notes currently in
circulation. The new notes also carried the year of
printing, as well as the signature of Pierre Laporte, the
bank’s governor at the time. The Central bank explains
that the existing notes remain legal tender but they
will be removed from circulation as they wear out.
They also state that each of the three banknotes has
a holographic patch instead of a foil sailfish and the
locations are different for the different notes:
•

•

•

ONLY IN SEYCHELLES…STRANGE BUT TRUE.
The Central Bank of Seychelles (2006) brings to light
two very bizarre incidents.

• The fifty rupee note of 1968 became a collector’s

item with the word “SEX” spelled by the palm
fronds!
• The “bank note mystery” tells the story of the

country’s original R100 banknote of November

1979.It was withdrawn from circulation on

February 25, 1980 and demonetized when the

second consignment of notes, worth 4.5 million

pounds sterling went missing after the Greek

freighter carrying it sank. Some notes reappeared

fifteen years later, in 1994, believed to have been

washed ashore and also caught in the fishermen’s

nets off the coast of Dorset in England!
I for one am going to look for a 1968 fifty rupee note,
this I have to see for myself.
Bibliography
(n.d.). Retrieved december 15, 2014, from
virtualseychelles: http://www.virtualseychelles.sc
Central Bank of Seychelles. (2006). History of Paper.
Victoria.
McActeer, W. (2000). Hard Times in Paradise: The History
of the Seychelles,1827-1919. Victoria.
Ministry of Education. (1990). History of Seychelles.
Victoria: Ministry of Education.

On the 50-rupee note, the silver
holographic sailfish alternates between
the number 50 and an image of the
Aldabra rail, a flightless bird.
On the 100-rupee note, the gold
hol