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Monday 17 June 2019

1022) 25 Years of Constitutional Democracy in South Africa ("SA25"): Celebrating the milestone with the issue of six circulation coins (R2 five coins & R5 one Coin) and three Commemorative Coins (Gold R500, Sterling Silver R50 & Bronze Alloy R50) issued by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) in partnership with the South African Mint: Coin release dates: 04/2019 & 05/2019:

1022) 25 Years of Constitutional Democracy in South Africa ("SA25"): Celebrating the milestone with the issue of six circulation coins (R2 five coins & R5 one Coin) and three Commemorative Coins (Gold R500, Sterling Silver R50 & Bronze Alloy R50) issued by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) in partnership with the South African Mint: Coin release dates: 04/2019 & 05/2019:

2019 marks a monumental 25 years (Silver Jubilee) of Constitutional Democracy in South Africa (1994-2019). It was 25 years ago that South Africans went to polls in the country's first democratic elections following the end of apartheid rule.


A Banner showing the Reverses of the three Commemorative Coins issued in the set titled "25 YEARS OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY" - R500 Gold Coin , R50 Sterling Silver and Bronze Alloy Coin

In partnership with the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), the South African Mint (which is a wholly owned subsidiary of SARB) has launched a series of six new Commemorative circulation coins. To reinvigorate national pride, the South African Mint has released the "SA25" themed coin range under the series titled - "Celebrating South Africa" - which commemorates the rights and freedoms espoused by the South African Constitution. 

South Africa's Constitution has been hailed as a document worth emulating because it includes what constitutional scholars call "positive rights" and the "most admirable Constitution in the history of the world". It has also been acknowledged as dealing with modern challenges and has been mentioned as even more contemporary than the US Constitution.

This was the first time that members of the public participated in developing the themes for the coins. Those born in a democratic South Africa were invited to provide their experiences and views on democracy, freedom and culture. As such, the new coin design ideas have come from those born in a free South Africa in response to what freedom meant to them. Several young and accomplished artists worked on the SA25 Coins Project to bring to life their vivid imagery of constitutional democracy.

Their perspectives, many of which were aligned to the rights enshrined in the Constitution, influenced the design concepts, which were considered by a panel of experts before finalising the coin designs.

Apart from the six circulation coins, Collector's Coins have also been released to commemorate the milestone.

Circulation Coins:

Six new circulation coins have been released, that underpin South Africa's constitution and the prominent rights identified by those born in democratic South Africa.

Five of the six new commemorative circulation coins are each of R2 denominations depicting five different rights in the Bill of Rights and the sixth one is of R5 denomination featuring the design of a ballot box and a long queue reminiscent of South Africa's first democratic election in 1994:


i) The Reverse of the above R2 (Rand 2) coin depicts the theme of "Children's Rights 1994-2019". This coin has been designed by Neo Mahlangu.

The design shows the faces of four happy children living in a free South Africa.


ii) The Reverse of the above R2 (Rand 2) coin depicts the theme of "Right to Education 1994-2019" and has also been designed by Neo Mahlangu.

The design shows open school books, a learner's alphabet block, with the letters "A, B" prominently displayed and a graduation cap.


iii) The Reverse of the above R2 (Rand 2) coin depicts the theme of "Environmental Rights 1994-2019" and has been designed by Maaike Bakker.

The design shows stylised images of a pollution free environment - running river water, a drop of drinking water, a rain cloud raining water and the Sun shining overhead.


iv) The Reverse of the above R2 (Rand 2) coin depicts the theme of "Right to Movement and Residence" and has been designed by Rasty Knayles.

The design depicts a free bird soaring in the sky with a "key" of freedom of movement, a minibus depicting travel and houses in the background.


v) The Reverse of the above R2 (Rand 2) coin depicts the theme "Freedom of Religion, Belief and Opinion" and has been designed by Peter Mammes.

The design depicts four raised hands symbolising freedom of Belief, opinion and religion.

vi) The Reverse of the above R5 (Rand 5) coin depicts the theme of "Let us Live and Strive for Freedom (1994-2019)" and has been designed by Lady  Skollie.

One can see a long line of people standing in a serpentine queue waiting patiently for their turn to vote in South Africa's first free election for all in 1994, giving them the freedom to choose their representatives. "X" es mark the votes polled.

Commemorative Collector's Coins:


The Collector Coins are of R500 (Rand 500) Gold Coin, R50 (Rand 50) Sterling Silver Coin and R50 (Rand 50) Bronze Coin. They are available to collectors for purchase both as individual coins and as part of a variety of coin sets:


On the Reverse of the R500 (Rand 500) Gold Coin , the Constitutional Court, highest court in South Africa, established as a result of South Africa's first democratic Constitution of 1994, is featured prominently, with the building that houses the Constitutional Court, including the detail of the beautiful door which has the 27 constitutional rights engraved in its wood, as well as, the popular skyline of Johannesburg is seen in the background.

The Constitutional Court is situated in Johannesburg on Constitution Hill and is a living museum with a rich history telling the story of South Africa's journey to democracy.

The Coin Reverse has been designed by architect Shaun Gaylord. This coin has been released for booking by collectors in 05/2019.

The Obverse of the R500  (Rand 500) Gold Coin features the National Coat of Arms, together with the year of issue "2019" and the words "South Africa".


On the Reverse of the R50 (Rand 50) Sterling Silver Collector's Coin is depicted Consyitutional Democracy in action, symbolised by a line of persons queuing up to vote, which is symbolic of the first democratic elections held in 1994, in South Africa. This was the first time that all South Africans were allowed to vote. 

The snake-like qualities of the queue of persons running into the distance was the primary inspiration for the design on this face by Lady Skollie (Laura Windvogel) who based her design on inspiration drawn from Khoison Rock Paintings and the hope of waiting/voting for a better tomorrow (in a queue).


On the Reverse of the R50 (Rand 50) Bronze Alloy Coin are inscribed the words - "We the people of South Africa", which is a line from the Preamble of the Constitution of South Africa.

The two joined hands symbolise togetherness and also depict people, ethnicity and religion. The detail in the pattern of the crosses draws attention to the "mark" that voters make on the ballot paper.


Both the R50 Sterling Silver and the R50 Bronze Alloy Coins share a common design on the Obverse - the National Coat of Arms of South Africa, the words "South Africa" written in all of the official languages.

The Sterling Silver and Bronze alloy R50 Commemorative Coins have been released on 26.04.2019.

The Font used: Durban-based Garth Walker has designed the Font, which appears on all the coins issued in the Series. He combined all the documented lettering, redrawing it as a unicase family. The original letter forms, within a slight margin of deviation, accurately reflect apartheid-era prisoner hand-lettering, graffiti and prison authority signage.

Over time, the Font came to be referred to as :the face of a nation". It was first used by the Constitutional Court on the outside of the actual building and subsequently across a wide variety of applications.

The SA25 Campaign Logo:



The South African Mint has launched a new campaign to commemorate the  25th Anniversary of South Africa's Constitutional Democracy.

The logo is made up of the letters S, A, and 2, mounted on a doodle-filled 5, to make up "SA25". The doodles in number 5 are words and images related to the various rights depicted on the new coins.

The logo was designed to create a visual identity for the new range of coins and makes the packaging and campaign instantly recognisable. The logo is bold and energetic and better captures and expresses the dynamism of the most progressing Constitution in the world.









Some other interesting posts from the African Continent on this blog:









15) Archosauria (The Rise of the Dinosaurs): "Natura series" of Five Gold Coins from the "Palaeontology Collection": A set of Gold Coins brought out by the South african Mint in 2018

16) New Circulation coins Series, Kenya: introduced by the Central Bank of Kenya on 11.12.2018


17) Sudan: A 100 Pounds Banknote being issued by the Central Bank of Sudan by End February 2019


18) Algeria: i) Introduction of two new denominations of 500 and 1,000 Algerian Dinars (AD), which will kick-start the new "Fifth Series of Algerian Dinar Banknotes" ii) A 100 Algerian Dinar tri-metallic coin which wil replace the 100 Dinar circulating Banknote of the same denomination

19) South Africa: "The Big Five Silver Coin Series": 1) First Coin in the Series brought out by the South African Mint features the African Elephant on a Five Rand Coin as the first variant issued in 02/2019: 2) Later Coin issues will feature the Lion, Leopard, Rhinoceros and the Buffalo


20) 25 Years of Constitutional Democracy in South africa (SA25): Celebrating the milestone with the issue of six circulation coins (R2 five coins & R5 one Coin) and three Commemorative Coins (Gold R500, Sterling Silver R50 & Bronze Alloy R50) issued by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) in partnership with the South African Mint: Coin release dats: 04/2019 & 05/2019

Some other interesting links to posts on this blog on Currencies of the Middle-East:




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