In Pakistan, when a new Governor is appointed, the State Bank normally issues a specimen note during that Governor’s first year. These notes are used for training, printing records, and official reference.
Governor Yaseen Anwar first appeared on Pakistan’s Rs.20 notes in 2011. So if any official specimen note was issued for him, it should normally be from 2011, not from 2013.
Because of this, the PMG-graded note labeled as “2013 Specimen / Namoonah” already feels unusual. The dates do not match Pakistan’s usual pattern for specimen releases.
Another point is the style of the “نمونہ” marking. Official Pakistani specimen notes always have the word printed directly on the note, never applied with a rubber stamp.
Pakistan’s specimen notes also commonly have perforated holes reading “SPECIMEN.” Sometimes the perforation is large, sometimes small, but it is always a perforation or printed mark, not a stamp.
The note that appears online looks like it has a simple rubber-stamp–style marking, which is not typical for any official SBP specimen.
Because of these differences, it is very possible that PMG may have made an error in labeling this item as an official 2013 specimen.
Another major concern is the serial number. Almost all Pakistani specimen notes have “000000” as the serial. But this note does not have the zero serial at all. This makes it look more like an error or unprinted-serial note that simply has the Governor’s signature.
It is possible that someone obtained these unnumbered 2013 error notes, stamped “نمونہ” on them by hand, and then sent them to PMG, who may have accepted them by mistake and labeled them as official specimens.
