PULA: COIN OF BOTSWANA
1 pula, 1991: Republic of Botswana
1 PULA.
Zebra (one of the central elements of the coat of arms of Botswana) at the moment of fast running.
BOTSWANA IPELEGENG (Ipelegeng — Botswana public works program: state initiative meant to reduce poverty by creating needed employment opportunities).
Coat of arms of Botswana: shield (the shape of the shield is that of traditional shields of Southern Africa) is supported by two zebras; three cogwheels; three waves; the head of a bull; the motto of the nation "PULA", which means simply "rain", but also wish "good luck".
Coin design: Michael Hibbit.
Heptagonal coin shape (in geometry, a heptagon or septagon is a seven-sided polygon).
Royal Canadian Mint (Winnipeg, Canada).
- Nickel brass: 24 mm - 8.75 g
- Reference price: 1$
COIN PULA — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- REPUBLIC OF BOTSWANA (1976-...): pula = 100 thebe
PULA as coin name.
Pula — official currency of Botswana, which is located in the center of southern Africa and borders South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. The pula is divided into 100 thebe.
Together with the creation of the independent state of Botswana in 1966, two commemorative coins were issued — silver 50 cents and gold 10 thebe. For the first time after the declaration of independence of Botswana from Great Britain, the South African rand was used as money. However, already in 1976, the national currency — pula — was introduced.
The first pula in the form of coins are dated also 1976.
The name of the pula coin, translated from the national language of Tswana, means "let it rain" — the saying is also the national motto and is placed on the coat of arms of Botswana. Considerable attention to this word is caused by the relevance of the problem of arid climate, because a significant part of the territory of Botswana is occupied by the Kalahari desert.
From the point of view of etymology, the African coin pula has no connection with the consonant names of other coins — Eurasian pul, pūl and pulo.
