AF, AG, AH and AJ. These are the four new prefixes that have appeared on the second batch of $20 commemorative banknotes to celebrate the Singapore Bicentennial, which was issued on 4 November 2019.
The initial batch of $20 Singapore Bicentennial banknotes also came with four different prefixes: AB, AC, AD and AE.
Banknotes found on the uncut sheet of 3 bear the AA prefix, with serial numbers ranging from AA 801xxx to AA 832xxx. A total of 5000 such uncut sheets were produced.
No Symbol on Reverse
Banknotes from the second printing do not come with any special symbol printed on the reverse. Since 2009, MAS has used symbols to indicate the printing batch for the Portrait Series, as well as the SG50 commemorative issue.
The symbols include squares, triangles, diamonds, stars, houses and inverted triangles – either single, double or triple. Symbols can also have a solid colour, or appear as a hollow outline.
Limited Demand for Limited Edition?
According to a press release by MAS, applicants for the second batch were allocated the full number of banknotes which they have asked for. There were more than 200,000 applications for around 1.8 million banknotes. In other words, around 0.2 million banknotes from the second print run have not been allocated yet.
MAS has previously mentioned that notes which are left over after 18 November 2019 will be made available to the public for exchange. So keep a look out if you’ve missed your chance during the online application phase, or if you want to get hold of more.
Related Questions
How many Singapore Bicentennial $20 notes are there? MAS issued a total of 4 million banknotes in two separate batches. Initially, 2 million banknotes were put into circulation in June 2019. This was followed by another 2 million in November 2019 to meet popular demand.
What is the first prefix for the Singapore Bicentennial $20 notes? For the first batch of 2 million circulation banknotes, AB is considered as the first prefix. AF is unofficially the first prefix for the second batch.
What is the last prefix for the Singapore Bicentennial $20 notes? Strictly speaking, AJ is the last prefix for the Singapore Bicentennial commemorative banknotes. Since AE used to be the last prefix before the additional print run, it can still be considered as the last prefix for the first print run of 2 million notes.