Bank of Zambia says banknotes with security threads in different positions are not fake

The Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has told the public that differences in the position of the security thread on banknotes of the same denomination do not mean the notes are fake. The central bank issued the clarification in a statement on Thursday after members of the public questioned whether some notes were genuine. BoZ Assistant Director of Communications Besnat Mwanza said the thread's position can vary within a defined "wandering zone" and that this is a normal part of banknote production. "The variation is neither a defect nor, on its own, an indication that a banknote is counterfeit," she said. She explained that the variation is deliberate: it spreads out the extra thickness that the thread adds to a note, which stops a ridge from building up when notes are rolled or stacked in large numbers. As a result, threads on genuine notes do not always line up, and the eagle image on the note may also sit in slightly different positions. The bank urged people not to judge a note by the thread alone, but to examine several features together. The features that can be checked without special equipment, which the bank calls Level 1 features, are the colour-shifting features, the watermark, the see-through register, the raised printing and the tactile marks that can be felt by touch. BoZ also recommends the free Zambian Banknotes app, available for Android on Google Play and for iPhone on the Apple App Store. The app gives step-by-step guidance on checking the Level 1 features of each denomination. The bank stressed that the app is "an educational guide to examining the level 1 security on physical banknotes" and does not authenticate a note automatically. More guidance is on the Bank of Zambia website. ## Why it matters Most Zambian business is done in cash, from market stalls and minibus fares to farm produce sold at the roadside. When people start to doubt a banknote, traders refuse it, the person holding it loses real money, and arguments follow. A clear explanation of wh