Namibian dollar - wikipedia Namibian dollar For earlier Namibian currencies, see South West African mark and South West African pound. Namibian dollar 10, 50 cents, N $1, N $5, N $10 ISO 4217 Code NAD Denominations Subunit 1 / 100 cent Symbol N $ Banknotes $10, $20, $50, $100, $200 Coins 5, 10, 50 cents, $1, $5, $10 Demographics User ( s ) Namibia ( alongside South African rand ) Issuance Central bank Bank of Namibia Website www.bon.com.na Valuation Inflation 6.8 % Source The World Factbook, 2016 est. Pegged with South African rand at par The Namibian dollar ( symbol : $ ; code : NAD ) has been the currency of Namibia since 1993. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively N $ to distinguish it from other dollar - denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents. Contents 1 History 2 Coins 3 Banknotes 4 Dollar or mark ? 5 References 6 External links History The dollar replaced the South African rand, which had been the country 's currency while it was under South African rule as South - West Africa from 1920 until 1990, at par. The rand is still legal tender, as the Namibian dollar is linked to the South African rand and can be exchanged on a one - to - one basis locally. Namibia was also part of the Common Monetary Area from independence in 1990 until the introduction of the dollar in 1993. In 1990, moves were under way to replace the rand with a new Namibian currency. The name kalahar was proposed, as the Kalahari Desert is located in eastern Namibia. The name of Namibia 's central bank was going to be known as the Namibia Reserve Bank. Denominations of this planned currency included 2, 5, 10, and 20 kalahar. ( Note : There were two different designs for the 20 kalahar specimen notes. ) These plans came to nothing, but some specimen notes were printed in a range of denominations. The Bank of Namibia issued the first banknotes on 15 September 1993 and, in December, issued the first national coins. Coins Five dollar coin Coins in circulation 5 c 10 c 50 c $1 $5 $10 Years of mintage are 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015. The cent coins are made of nickel plated steel and the dollar coins of brass. Banknotes 10 Namibian dollars Banknotes in circulation $10 $20 $50 $100 $200 Historically, Hendrik Witbooi, once chief of the Namaqua people and instrumental in leading the revolts against German rule at the turn of the 20th century, has been depicted on all Namibian banknotes. However, on 21 March 2012, the Bank of Namibia introduced a new series of banknotes to be issued in May 2012. The new family of banknotes will have the same denomination structure as the current series. All denominations have improved anti-counterfeiting features, and the portrait of Hendrik Witbooi are retained for all but the 10 - and 20 - dollar notes, which feature a new portrait of Sam Nujoma, the founding president and father of the Namibian nation. The Bank of Namibia has discovered that the diamond - shaped optically variable ink patch on the N $10 and N $20 notes was cracking after multiple folding and handling. The Bank of Namibia has recently issued in limited quantity, the N $10 and N $20 notes on paper with improved quality and shifted the placement of the diamond - shaped optically variable ink feature. 2011 -- 2012 Series ( 1 ) Image Value Main Color Description Date of issue Date of first issue Watermark Obverse Reverse ( 2 ) N $10 129 × 70mm Blue H.E. Dr. Sam Nujoma ; Parliament building in Windhoek Namibian coat of arms ; three standing springbok antelope ( Antidorcas marsupialis ) 2011 15 May 2012 Sam Nujoma and electrotype 10 ( 3 ) N $20 134 × 70mm Orange H.E. Dr. Sam Nujoma ; Parliament building in Windhoek Namibian coat of arms ; three standing red hartebeest 2011 15 May 2012 Sam Nujoma and electrotype 20 ( 4 ) N $50 140 × 70mm Green Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi ; Parliament building in Windhoek Namibian coat of arms ; five standing kudo antelope ( Tragelaphus stepsiceros ) 2012 15 May 2012 Hendrik Witbooi and electrotype 50 ( 5 ) N $100 147 × 70mm Red Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi ; Parliament building in Windhoek Namibian coat of arms ; three standing oryx antelope ( Oryx gazella ) 2012 15 May 2012 Hendrik Witbooi and electrotype 100 ( 6 ) N $200 152 × 70mm Purple Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi ; Parliament building in Windhoek Namibian coat of arms ; three standing roan antelope 2012 15 May 2012 Hendrik Witbooi and electrotype 200 Dollar or mark ? 10 marks essai ( reverse ) During the planning phase of the introduction of a new national currency replacing the South African rand, the newly founded Bank of Namibia minted a proof series of coins denominated in dollars as well as in marks, for the consideration of the Namibian Ministry of Finance. The decision then fell in favour of the name ' dollar ' for the new currency. The proof series consisted of four different coins : 1 mark, 1 dollar ( both in copper / nickel ), 10 marks and 10 dollars ( both in silver ). The obverse of the mark pieces shows a sitting lion where the dollar pieces depict a San ( Bushman ) with bow and arrow. All obverse sides bear the indication of denomination as well as the remark ' PROBE ' / ' ESSAI ' ( proof ). The reverse of the 1 - mark / 1 - dollar pieces shows Namibia 's former coat of arms surrounded by the inscription ' NAMIBIA ', the year ( 1990 ) and two ears of corn. The ten - mark / ten - dollar pieces bear the inscription ' INDEPENDENCE ' / ' UNABHÄNGIGKEIT ' ( German : ' independence ' ) instead of the ears. There was a series of Namibian pattern coins denominated in South African Rand dated 1990. This short - lived tender was cited in the 2005 edition of Krause 's ' Unusual World Coins '. Current NAD exchange rates From Google Finance : AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD From Yahoo ! Finance : AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD From XE : AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD From OANDA : AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD From fxtop.com : AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD References Jump up ^ Linzmayer, Owen ( 2012 ). `` Namibia ''. The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA : www.BanknoteNews.com. Jump up ^ Namibia new 2012 banknote family confirmed BanknoteNews.com. Retrieved 2012 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ Namibia new 10 - and 20 - dollar notes reported BanknoteNews.com. June 4, 2013. Retrieved on 2013 - 06 - 05. External links Heiko Otto ( ed. ). `` The banknotes of Namibia '' ( in English and German ). Retrieved 2017 - 05 - 19. Preceded by : South African rand Reason : independence Ratio : at par Currency of Namibia 1993 -- Concurrent with : South African rand Succeeded by : Current Economy of Namibia Currency : Namibian dollar ( South African Rand ) Communications Banking Communications History of Trade Transportation Industries : Agriculture Mining Uranium mining Tourism Currencies named dollar or similar Circulating Australian dollar Bahamian dollar Barbadian dollar Belize dollar Bermudian dollar Brunei dollar Canadian dollar Cayman Islands dollar Cook Islands dollar Eastern Caribbean dollar Fijian dollar Guyanese dollar Hong Kong dollar Jamaican dollar Kiribati dollar Liberian dollar Namibian dollar New Zealand dollar Samoan tālā Singapore dollar Solomon Islands dollar Surinamese dollar New Taiwan dollar Trinidad and Tobago dollar Tuvaluan dollar United States dollar Circulating, but renamed Chinese yuan Ethiopian birr Malaysian ringgit Obsolete Antigua dollar British Columbia dollar British North Borneo dollar British West Indies dollar Ceylonese rixdollar Confederate States dollar Continental dollar Danish rigsdaler Danish West Indian daler Danish West Indian rigsdaler Dominican dollar Dutch rijksdaalder Greenlandic rigsdaler Grenadan dollar Hawaiian dollar Japanese occupation dollar Kiautschou dollar Malaya and British Borneo dollar Malayan dollar Mauritian dollar Mongolian dollar Nevisian dollar New Brunswick dollar Newfoundland dollar Norwegian rigsdaler Norwegian speciedaler Nova Scotian dollar Penang dollar Prince Edward Island dollar Puerto Rican dollar Rhodesian dollar Saint Kitts dollar Saint Lucia dollar Saint Vincent dollar Sarawak dollar Sierra Leonean dollar Slovenian tolar Spanish dollar Straits dollar Sumatran dollar Swedish riksdaler Old Taiwan dollar Texas dollar Trinidadian dollar Tobagan dollar Zimbabwean dollar Noncirculating Marshall Islands dollar Nauru dollar Niue dollar Palau dollar Pitcairn Islands dollar Conceptual Eurodollar Petrodollar Geary -- Khamis dollar Virtual Linden dollar Project Entropia Dollar Fictional Angus Bucks Private Antarctican dollar Arizona dollar Calgary dollar Canadian Tire money Disney dollar Liberty dollar Salt Spring dollar Toronto dollar Bristol Pound See also Dollar sign Half dollar Holey dollar Thaler Tolar Trade dollar Zimbabwean bond coins Zimbabwean bond notes Currencies of Africa North Algerian dinar Egyptian pound Euro Plazas de soberanía Libyan dinar Mauritanian ouguiya Moroccan dirham Sahrawi peseta ( unrecognized ) Sudanese pound Tunisian dinar Central Angolan kwanza Burundian franc Central African CFA franc Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Republic of the Congo Equatorial Guinea Gabon Congolese franc Rwandan franc East Comorian franc Djiboutian franc Eritrean nakfa Ethiopian birr Kenyan shilling Seychellois rupee Somali shilling Somaliland shilling ( unrecognized ) South Sudanese pound Tanzanian shilling Ugandan shilling South Botswana pula British pound sterling Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Zimbabwe Euro French Southern and Antarctic Lands Mayotte Réunion Zimbabwe Lesotho loti Malagasy ariary Malawian kwacha Mauritian rupee Mozambican metical Namibian dollar Saint Helena pound South African rand Lesotho Namibia Swaziland Zimbabwe Swazi lilangeni U.S. dollar Zimbabwe Zambian kwacha Zimbabwean dollar ( defunct due to hyperinflation since April 2009 ) Zimbabwean bond coins ( since 18 December 2014 - denominated in U.S. Cents ) Zimbabwean bond notes ( since 28 November 2016 - denominated in U.S. Dollars ) West Cape Verdean escudo Euro Canary Islands Madeira Gambian dalasi Ghanaian cedi Guinean franc Liberian dollar Nigerian naira São Tomé and Príncipe dobra Sierra Leonean leone West African CFA franc Benin Burkina Faso Guinea - Bissau Ivory Coast Mali Niger Senegal Togo Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Namibian_dollar&oldid=835698833 '' Categories : ISO 4217 Dollar Currencies of Africa Circulating currencies Currencies of the Commonwealth of Nations Currencies of Namibia Fixed exchange rate Currency introduced in 1993 1993 establishments in Namibia Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from February 2007 CS1 German - language sources ( de ) Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Bân - lâm - gú Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Hrvatski বিষ্ণুপ্রিয়া মণিপুরী Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Lietuvių Magyar मराठी Монгол Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Occitan Polski Português Русский Sesotho sa Leboa Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Тоҷикӣ Türkçe Українська Yorùbá 中文 32 more Edit links This page was last edited on 10 April 2018, at 07 : 26. 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Question: when did the currency of namibia first come into circulation
Answer: 1993