The Loti (plural: Maloti) is the

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

of the Kingdom of

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...

. It is subdivided into 100 ''lisente'' (sg. ''sente''). It is pegged to the

South African rand The South African rand, or simply the rand, ( sign: R; code: ZAR) is the official currency of the Southern African Common Monetary Area: South Africa, Namibia (alongside the Namibian dollar), Lesotho (alongside the Lesotho loti) and Eswatin ...

on a 1:1 basis through the Common Monetary Area, and both are accepted as

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in ...

within Lesotho. The loti was first issued in 1966, albeit as a non-circulating currency. In 1980, Lesotho issued its first coins denominated in both loti and lisente (dated 1979) to replace the South African rand, but the rand remains legal tender. The name derives from the Sesotho ''loti'', "mountain," while ''sente'' is from English "

cent Cent may refer to: Currency * Cent (currency), a one-hundredth subdivision of several units of currency * Penny (Canadian coin), a Canadian coin removed from circulation in 2013 * 1 cent (Dutch coin), a Dutch coin minted between 1941 and 1944 * ...

". In 1985, the

ISO 4217 ISO 4217 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that defines alpha codes and numeric codes for the representation of currencies and provides information about the relationships between individual ...

code was changed from into .

Coins

In 1980,

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order ...

s dated 1979 were introduced in denominations of 1 sente, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 lisente and 1 loti. In 1996, 2 and 5 maloti coins were introduced, followed by 20 lisente in 1998. Coins in circulation are: * 5 lisente * 10 lisente * 20 lisente * 50 lisente * 1 loti * 2 maloti * 5 maloti

Banknotes

In January 1980,

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

s dated 1979 (the last two digits of the year of issue are the serial number prefix denominator) were introduced in denominations of 2, 5 and 10 maloti. 20 and 50 maloti notes were added in 1981, followed by 100 and 200 maloti in 1994. On 1 March 2011, at a celebration marking its 30th anniversary, the Central Bank of Lesotho launched a new series of banknotes dated 2010 aimed at fighting the spread of counterfeits. The notes feature a portrait of the three royal family members: the current king, His Majesty Letsie III, is in the middle, his father King Moshoeshoe II is on the left, and the founder of the Basotho nation, King Moshoeshoe I, on the right.Lesotho to issue new notes in March 2011
BanknoteNews.com. Retrieved 2012-03-20.

References

External links

Central Bank of Lesotho's official website

{{Portal bar, Africa, Money, Numismatics Currencies of Africa Circulating currencies Currencies of the Commonwealth of Nations Fixed exchange rate Currencies introduced in 1966 Currencies introduced in 1980 Economy of Lesotho

Coins

Banknotes

See also

References

External links