Under the distinguished patronage of Alderman Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor of the City of Cape Town
Index
A
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An Introduction to the Banknotes of South West Africa.
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An Unusual Medal: Burgerunie van die Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek.
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A Short History of the South African Numismatic Society.
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A Foundation Member Looks Back.
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A Foundation Stone “Hoard” het Nuwe Kerk, Cape Town 1833.
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Ancient Greek and Roman coins from Pondoland, South Africa (Part 1).
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Ancient Greek and Roman coins from Pondoland, South Africa (Part 2).
B
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Burgers Mint Mystery (The).
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Boer War P.O.W. Money of the Cape Town Prisoner of War Camps.
C
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Coinage used by the Voortrekkers.
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1995 Commemorative Visit of Queen Elizabeth II to South Africa coin set.
D
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Doit of the VOC: Dutch East India Company (The).
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Dinosaurs and Numismatics.
F
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Fate of 200 Coinage Dies for the State Mint of the Z.A.R. (The).
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Forgeries of South African Silver Coins.
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Fibre “Teaching Coins” of the Union of South Africa.
G
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Gold Money at the Cape in the days of the Dutch East India Company.
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Gold Burgers’ Cross of 1874: South Africa’s First Presidential Award (The) - Part 2.
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Gold Coins of South Africa.
H
I
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In Search of Napoleonic Treasure in the Karoo.
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In Search of a Cape of Good Hope Medal.
J
K
L
M
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Mafeking Siege Notes - Part 1.
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Mafeking Siege (Part 2): Mafeking Siege Collectables.
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Mystery of the Proof Coins of Rhodesia (The).
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Méreau Communion Token of the French Huguenots (The).
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Mysterious 1889 Silver Pattern Half-Crown of the Cape of Good Hope (The).
N
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Numismatic Springbok (The): Springbok depicted on South African Coins & Notes.
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Numismatics & Philately promoting each other in South Africa.
P
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Pattern Coinage of the Orange Free State.
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“Perfect” Forgery (The): Part 1 - The Story of the Fake Kruger Pond of 1900, The Levine Version.
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“Perfect” Forgery (The): Part 2 - The Story of the Fake Kruger Pond of 1900, The Sasseen Version.
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“Perfect” Forgery (The): Part 3 - The Court Cases and the Overseas Connections.
Q
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Questions regarding some Victorian & Edwardian Era Tokens attributed to Cape Town.
R
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Rarest of the Rare (The): Unique and Very Rare Gold Coins of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek - Further Notes.
S
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Story of the Tabora 15 Rupees (The).
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Silver Rarities of the Union of South Africa.
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“Single 9” overstamp 1898 Pond (The): The King of South African Coins.
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South African Sports and Numismatics.
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South African Coin Hoards.
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South African Numismatic Firsts since 1652.
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Source of the Silver used for the Z.A.R. Coinage (The).
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South African Medallion Sets of the 1970s & 1980s.
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Shipwreck Gold Coins from South Africa.
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South African Advertising Token Sets of the 1960s & 1970s.
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1931 Silver Coinage of the Union of South Africa (The).
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Sammy Marks Tickey and its Myths (The).
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South Africa’s First Paper Money Issuances.
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South Africa’s First Coinage Issues.
T
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The 1899 Paul Kruger Gold Pond.
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Tram & Bus Tokens of Cape Town.
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Tickey (The)– a legendary South African Coin.
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Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Token / Medallion (The).
U
V
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Victorian-era Patterns of South Africa: Were they mere fantasy coins?
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Victorian-era Brothel Tokens of South Africa.
W
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Would the real Jan van Riebeeck please stand up?
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When the Victoria Cross was presented at Cape Town on Coronation Day.
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Women on South African Coins.
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Was the Victoria Cross really denied to the South African Soldier Corporal Job Maseko?
X
Y
Z
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ZAR Coinage of 1892 (The) - Part 1: Some anomalies regarding the issues.
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ZAR Coinage of 1892 (The) - Part 2: The rare proof issues and the Glück auf Transvaal medal.
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ZAR Coinage of 1892 (The) - Part 3: New Information Discovered.
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Zenigata Sunae and the Kan’ei Tsūhō coins of Japan.
The Decimilisation of South Africa’s Monetary System
By Matthy Esterhuysen
This article originally appeared in Matthy Esterhuysen’s Ons Gelderfenis, a book published in 1980 in Afrikaans by the National Cultural Historical and Open-air Museum, Pretoria. The article was translated by the WCNS, with photos added by them.
The first recommendations that the Union of South Africa should decimalise its monetary system were made as early as 1913 by Mr Reynolds, manager of the National Bank of South Africa. A bill was introduced in Parliament for the first time in 1932, but the first real study of the matter was only undertaken in 1944 and 1948 by the so-called Becklake Committee.
Picture left: The then Minister of Finance, Mr Jan Hendrik Hofmeyer in conversation with the Prime Minister, Jan Smuts. (Source: Wikipedia). Picture right, Mr JT Becklake, the first Director of the South African Mint (Source: WCNS).
At the request of the then Minister of Finance, the Becklake Committee’s recommendations were followed up on between 1949 and 1954 by a further study under the direction of the Bureau of Standards, which in turn was supplemented during the years 1956 to 1958 by the Decimal Coin Commission. In December 1958, it was announced that the Government had, in principle, accepted the report of the Commission.
The book on the right was published by Dr. Barry Wiehahn to educate the public about the implications of decimalisation. (Source: WCNS)
All monetary machines set to the £.s.d. system, such as cash registers, adding machines, bookkeeping machines, price-indicating scales, petrol pumps, etc., had to be converted to the decimal system. Fortunately, it was found that most of the £.s.d. machines had originally been decimal machines that had been specially converted to £.s.d. Consequently, it was possible to reconvert the machines to decimal functioning without much cost.
During the 1959 Parliamentary session, the Decimal Coinage Act, No. 61 of 1959, was passed. On 11 March 1960, the regulations under the Act were published in the Government Gazette. Decimal Day was fixed as Tuesday, 14 February 1961.
The use of cash registers and other machines in business administration in South Africa made it impossible to change over nationwide to the Rand–Cent system on that day. Consequently, only the banks and those enterprises that had no monetary machine problems applied the decimal monetary system from that date, while the rest of the business community continued to transact in £.s.d. until such time as their monetary machines could be converted or replaced.
Posters that were produced to create awareness of the new coinage. (Source: Francois Malan)
The recommendation of both the Bureau of Standards and the Decimal Coin Commission that the new unit should be equal to 10 shillings and be divided into 100 cents, i.e. that it should be a two-decimal system, was accepted. It emerged from the investigations that no fewer than 145 countries or territories in the world with decimal monetary systems at that time had three-decimal systems, i.e. where the main unit was divided into 1,000 mils instead of only 100 cents. The reason for the decision of the South African authorities was obvious, namely that it is infinitely easier for the average person to work with hundredths rather than thousandths.
The Decimal Coinage Act, 1959, determined that all decimal coins issued would be equivalent to £.s.d., as follows:
Two rand = one pound
One rand = 10 shillings
50 cents = five shillings
20 cents = two shillings
10 cents = one shilling
5 cents = sixpence
2½ cents = three pennies
1 cent = twelve-tenths of one penny
½ cent = twelve-tenths of a halfpenny
¼ cent = twelve-tenths of a quarter penny
The first decimal coin series of 1961 (Source: Wasserthal Rare Coin).
It was announced that existing banknotes and silver coins would remain in circulation at unchanged values and that, with the exception of the 2/6 piece, no special steps would be taken to withdraw them from circulation.
The spelling of Rand and Cent was also announced. The Act determined that the word “Rand” would remain the same in both languages and in both the singular and plural, with a capital “R” as its symbol. In Afrikaans, the subdivision is spelt with an “s” and in English with a “c,” while in Afrikaans “sent” serves for both singular and plural, in contrast to the English “cent” and “cents.” The symbol in both languages is an ordinary small “c.”
The bronze coins (the penny, halfpenny and farthing) would be withdrawn as soon as possible. The cent and half-cent, with a different design and made of a yellow alloy but of the same size to replace the penny and halfpenny, would be struck in large quantities. No farthing would be struck.
Provision was also made for the striking of gold coins corresponding in value to the pound and half-pound that had been struck in small quantities since 1952. These gold coins were not intended for circulation.
It was decided to replace the head of Queen Elizabeth II with that of Jan van Riebeeck. A nationwide competition was held, and the portrait of Jan van Riebeeck hanging in the Parliament building in Cape Town, submitted by Willem Myburgh of Pretoria, together with the design of an ox wagon for the one-cent coin by Hilda Mason, was accepted.
Pre-decimal image of Queen Elizabeth II and Jan van Riebeeck on the right. Source: Numista
On 20 September 1960, the first new cent coins were struck. Thereafter, the silver coins of the decimal series were also struck. The new series consisted of nine coins, bearing the bust of Jan van Riebeeck by Willem Myburgh and the motto EENDRAG MAAK MAG — UNITY IS STRENGTH on the obverse. The two official languages alternated in prominence on the left-hand side of each coin face or reverse.
Change from Nickel to Silver.
In an effort to accustom the population gradually to the decimal system, the new coins were the same size as the £.s.d. series. The decimal silver series consisted of a 50-cent, 20-cent, 10-cent, 5-cent and 2½-cent. As already mentioned, the bronze coins and halfpenny were replaced by 2-cent, 1-cent and ½-cent coins of yellow alloy. In 1962, it was announced that changes to the design, colour, size and metal content of the coinage system were being contemplated.
As with the changeover to the decimal system, several committees were appointed to investigate the matter.
The South African Mint also investigated and tested the practical possibilities and submitted a report to the relevant minister in December 1963. Recommendations were made that seven denominations, four nickel and three bronze coins, should be introduced. To distinguish the coins from the old system, the nickel coins were to have smooth edges and the bronze 2c and 1c pieces milled edges. The ½c of the old system would continue to circulate unchanged for some time.
The second decimal coin series of the Republic of South Africa from 1965 (Source: Bobshop)
Meanwhile, the price of silver rose so sharply that it became necessary to find another metal, which strengthened the idea of using nickel for minting coins. Besides possessing the properties required for practical use in coinage, nickel was also a by-product of the platinum mining industry and therefore readily obtainable in South Africa. The South African Mint and Coinage Act, No. 78 of 1964, providing for the change from silver to nickel, was approved by Parliament in June 1964.
This Act also made provision for a gold coin of one ounce of fine gold, which led to the annual striking of the prestige Krugerrand. In 1980, three additional gold coins were issued, namely the half, quarter and tenth ounce.
Source: WCNS
The 1964 Act also made provision for a silver one-rand coin. It was stipulated that payment of any amount could be made in gold, but that in the case of silver and nickel, no more than R4 in coins could be used, and in the case of bronze coins, no more than ten cents.
South African fauna and flora designs were used for the new series of coins.
The animals were designed and engraved by Jan van Zyl. Cythna Letty was responsible for all the floral designs, and Tommy Sasseen engraved them.
The rand coins differ almost annually from one another and may be regarded as commemorative issues. In 1965, 1968 and 1970 onwards, R1 coins were struck only for coin sets. Nickel one-rand coins were included in uncirculated sets from 1977, and the silver one-rand only in proof sets.
(Please note that this article was written in 1980).