South African Rail Transport Coins, Tokens & Medallions
Pierre H. Nortje (January 2026)
Introduction
The construction of the initial railway from Cape Town to Wellington began in 1858. However, progress was slow, and it wasn't until 13 February 1862 that service commenced on the first section of the line to the Eerste River. By then, the Natal Railway Company had already established a passenger and freight service connecting the town of Durban to Harbour Point, which launched on 26 June 1860. Following the establishment of the Cape Government Railways in 1872, the Cape railways embarked on a significant expansion of their services.
By 1890, the line from Cape Town reached Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State, and on 21 May 1892, the Transvaal and Free State were joined.
Presidents Kruger and Reitz, the respective presidents of the ZAR and Orange Free State, on the occasion of the joining of the Transvaal and Free State by railway (Source: WCNS)
In 1895, the Netherlands-South African Railway Company (NZASM) constructed a railway line from Pretoria to Lourenço Marques in Portuguese East Africa Colony and a shorter line connecting Pretoria and Johannesburg.
In 1898, a national transport network began to take shape, reaching its completion by 1910. This development coincided with the unification of the four colonies into the modern state of South Africa, leading to the consolidation of railway lines throughout the nation. The South African Railways and Harbours (SAR & H) was established as the government authority responsible for managing the railway system, which later underwent a name change to South African Transport Services. On 1 April 1990, Transnet was formed to assume the majority of operations from SATS, while the newly established South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC) took over the responsibility for commuter rail services.
Currently, two public companies operate freight and commuter services: Transnet Freight Rail (formerly known as Spoornet) and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).
Coins
The first coin to commemorate South African railways was the silver R1 of 1995, struck for the centenary of the NZASM railway line. The obverse shows the old tunnel between Waterval Onder and Waterval Boven, out of which comes a steam train on the tracks. Two varieties of this coin exist, the rare type, which has the whole train frosted and the more common variety that has the doorway and window clear (no frosting). Six years later, in 2001, a silver R1 was struck to commemorate tourism in South Africa, again showing a steam train (and a flower).
Source: Numista
In 2010, a new, but short series was introduced called “Trains of South Africa” with the silver Tickey (2½c) and R2 depicting the following trains: -
2010 - The Gautrain
2013 - Class 43 Diesel Electric
2014 - Class 15E Diesel Electric
2015 - Class 15F Steam Locomotive
The Tickey and R2 were also combined in so-called twin sets with a silver replica of the respective trains included in the wooden presentation box.
Picture source: Randcoin with their permission
Tokens
In the book MTB South Africa Tokens by Dr. Morgan Carrol and Allyn Jacobs (2021), various tokens are recorded relating to South African railways:
The tokens mentioned are predominantly tool, machine and other types of checks, as well as canteen and catering tokens, which in general would not excite many collectors. In many cases, their exact uses are not even known, with their appearance being dull and uninteresting.
However, some of them are exceptions to the rule, like the gold passes. According to Hern's Handbook of Southern African Tokens, this is the only South African gold token known (and also the only one showing a train). It was issued to high-ranking officials (e.g. cabinet ministers) as a Life Pass for travelling on South African Railways. Hern mentions that two types are known, a smaller and a bigger one. One of the pictures he shows in his catalogue is of the smaller one - it was issued to late Minister Ben Schoeman. B.J. Schoeman was Minister of Transport and was presented with both varieties, as the following picture shows the bigger one (9.2 grams) and also named to him. He served as the Minister of Labour from 1948 to 1954, and the Minister of Transport from 1954 until 1974.
Source picture left alchetron.com. Picture right from the author’s own library.
Another interesting token is the Wellington station refreshment room issue. Dr. Carroll states that they are extremely rare, with perhaps 4 known. The author has spent many hours researching this token (he was born and raised in Wellington), but could find no specific information on a refreshment room at the Wellington station, although there must have been one.
Picture left: Arrival of the inaugural train at Wellington Station, behind a tender locomotive on 4 November 1863. The train station was built on land donated by a local farmer, P.J. Malan, on condition that every passenger train using the line would have to stop in Wellington. Picture right: Two varieties of the 4-pence token shown in the MTB catalogue, the one with a blank reverse and the other stamped “92”.
Medallions
South African Medallions relating to the railways offer a wide and interesting collecting field. The following pictures are all sourced from Prof. Michael Laidlaw’s website, southafricanmedals.com.
The two oldest issues we could find are dated 1890 and 1892, respectively. The first relates to the opening of the Beaufort West - Bloemfontein railway line and depicts President Reitz of the OFS on the obverse. The second was struck when the Natal Government Railways completed the line from Ladysmith through the Van Reenen Pass in the Drakensberg Mountains to reach Harrismith in the Orange Free State.
In 1895, the opening of the railway line between Pretoria and Lourenco Marques (Delgoa Bay) was celebrated by the striking of two different medals (varieties of these exist), of which the following is an example.
Source: The Heritage Portal
In 1960, a silver medal was struck by the SA Mint for the centenary of the South African railways. Laidlaw notes that on 26 June 1860, the Natal Railway Company opened a line for steam locomotives linking Durban with Harbour Point, a distance of about 2 miles (3 kilometres). The medal most probably also had something to do with a sports event that year (1960), as in 1963 and 1963 similar medals were struck for interprovincial sporting events held in Cape Town and Durban. On the 1960 medal, the words UMDLADLO. SPORT.PAPALI are depicted. Umdladlo and Papali are the Zulu/Xhosa and Sesotho names for sport, respectively. It is not known if the events were held for non-whites during the apartheid era and if they were sponsored by the South African railways and the medals beg for further research.
Other earlier medals of interest are the South African Railway Engineers Regimental Rifle Association Award of 1911/12 and the Amalgamated Society of Running Staff Medal of 1916. (The term “running staff” was the name the railways gave to engine drivers and stokers.) What makes the latter of particular interest is the obverse showing a steam train exiting a tunnel. This reminds one of the silver R1 of 1995, of which a picture was shown earlier in this paper.
A few last comments
Artefacts related to railways, commonly referred to as railroadiana or railwayana, have garnered a substantial international following among collectors. When combined with numismatics, these interests present a unique opportunity for type collectors who appreciate both fields.
It's disheartening to see the once-thriving South African Railways face significant challenges in recent years due to various circumstances. However, collectors are encouraged to embark on a journey that embraces our rich railway heritage, allowing them to rediscover the charm of the “good old days” in an exciting and fulfilling way.