Friends of the WCNS
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The WCNS is actively promoting the preservation of our heritage. Our national repositories are the custodians of historically important and irreplaceable items. We are aware of numismatic items that have gone missing from these repositories and urge anyone with information to get in touch via our Contact Us channel
New 1/10th ounce gold coins released by the SA Mint - click to enlarge
Coin of the Year Awards 2024
The category winners of the annual Coin of the Year awards were announced on 14 May 2024. South Africa was nominated in three categories, Gold coins, R50 - Buffalo, Circulating coins, 50c - Knysna Loerie, and Bi-Metallic coins, R5 - the Southern Right Whale. The 50c coin, featured elsewhere on this page, won the award for Best Circulating Coin dated 2023. South Africa has always been at the forefront of coin design and has won numerous accolades.
As numismatics is closely connected with history, archaeology, art history, and economics, the language and tasks of numismatics – its terms and techniques - can often be bewildering. From Zevenstuiver to hairline, Unc to Nimbus, find it here. It's the Oxford Dictionary of Numismatics - NNP Dictionary. Note, external link.
Feature Article
Transport tokens come in many forms, being it for railways, trams, buses, ferries and even cable cars. This paper discusses tram and bus tokens that were used at the Cape in the olden days. The following modes of public transport (excluding trains and cars) were available to Capetonians:
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Animal-drawn (mostly horses) carts and wagons.
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Trams drawn by horses (both on tracks & trackless)
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Electrical trams (both on tracks & trackless)
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Buses (also called omnibuses).
No fewer than 17 tram and bus companies are identified, some in opposition to each other and others under the same corporate umbrella. A complicated subject to research has now been made easily accessible with illustrations and needs to be saved as a standard reference tool. Read here...
In 2022, The Rarest of the Rare: Unique and Very Rare Gold Coins of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek by P.H. Nortje was published. At the time the author stated: “After consulting with many leading South African numismatists and various sources, some of the coins are still a mystery. The project was not easy with many gaps still to be filled."
Exciting new information on three of the ten coins previously discussed has now come to light, prompting the author to write this follow-up. Additional information is also published on two coins that were not included in the original publication, "filling the gaps" to quote the author. Read here
The “Perfect” Forgery - Part 3
The Court Cases and the Overseas Connections
In 1969 Dr Frank Mitchell, a South African Numismatic expert, examined a 1900 gold ZAR pond, better known today as the Van Niekerk forgery, and immediately
identified three areas which he believed proved the coin to be fake namely, die state, weight and colour. This three part series, of which this is the final, followed leads, spoke to experts, examined court records and discovered never before published records from both national and international archives. The research done for this series, in addition to making compelling findings about the "Perfect Forgery", comes together in Part 3 and inadvertently helps to correct popular beliefs and past publications. Read here...
Latest Gazetted Coinage Acts
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Dimension of, design for, and compilation of 2 oz Piedfort Krugerrand to be issued in 2024
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Dimension of, design for, and compilation of Big 5 Series III to be issued from 2024 to 2026 in South Africa
Featured Coin Designer
Our fifth instalment features the designer of the R2 coin from South Africa's 2023 Fourth Decimal Coin Series, Themba Mkhangeli, a multi-award-winning visual artist, environmentalist, and entomologist. A self-taught artist who first began drawing with ballpoint pens, Themba was commissioned by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and the South African Mint to design the new R2 coin.
The overall theme was ecology, and for the R2, the animal inspiration was the Springbok, South Africa's national animal.
To others, it might look like a Springbok mother and lamb, but it represents something deeper for Themba. His inspiration for the design comes from his experience as a child of a single parent, a big issue in our country.
The Capetonian has won several competitions, including the Sanlam Portrait Award, the Vuleka Visual Arts competition, and the Ryno Swart Drawing Medal for best drawing at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery.
Western Cape Numismatic Society Announcements
Report back on the WCNS 4th Quarterly Meeting - 2 Nov 2024
Members were invited to share what sparked their interest in numismatics. Chairman Waldo Human kicked off, followed by Joel Potgieter, Peter Klock, Albert Holtland and Luthando Prinsloo. Thereafter we were surprised with three remote presentations by Thomas van der Spuy (Mauritius), Landon Coleske (Gauteng) and Anthony Govender (Durban). The video presentations can viewed on our Youtube channel.
Membership
Membership of the society is open to all. Enquiries can be made through our Contact Us channel
WCNS Archives
Our comprehensive library consists of SA Numismatic Publications and Government Gazette sections, 1870 - current in Pdf formats, with an added Category Section as a research finding aid. Follow the Library link in the Site Menu bar.
More SA Numismatic resources
New Book Release
The "Perfect" Forgery
The book takes us back to the days of the Anglo Boer War when the Berlin Mint tried to supply the Pretoria Mint with dies for 1900 Ponde. It reads like a spy story with secret agents of both the British and Boer governments involved, a break-in on a ship in the Lourenco Marques harbor in Mozambique, secret dealings with the French Mint in Paris, and much more. A delightful and well researched piece. Proceeds from the book sales will go to the WCNS.
Hern's Handbook is an essential companion for all collectors of SA Coins and Pattern pieces and need no introduction. "Buy the book before you buy the coin"
