Silver Rarities of the Union of South Africa
Pierre H. Nortje (April 2025)
Introduction
The Union of South Africa was formed eight years after the end of the Anglo-Boer War in 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River colonies. Of these four entities, only the Transvaal (formerly the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republic) had issued its own coinage. The first coinage for the Union was only struck thirteen years later, in 1923, at the Pretoria Mint that was a subsidiary of the Royal Mint.
Source: Francois Malan.
The denominations were the bronze farthing, half penny and penny, the silver threepence, sixpence, shilling, florin (2-shillings) and half crown. In 1947 the Pretoria Mint also start issuing a crown piece (5-shillings) to commemorate the visit of the Royal family to South Africa and continued minting them until the year before decimalisation in 1960. Half-sovereigns and sovereigns in gold were also struck in certain years.
Scarcity
As can be expected of a coin series minted over such a long period, in certain years and for certain denominations, mintage figures fluctuated due to sufficient (or insufficient) mintages in previous years.
Regarding the silver series, the year 1931 is a classic example with very low mintage figures, which was not the case regarding the bronze and gold issues of that year. However, as we shall see, lower mintage figures do not necessarily equate to scarcity, while so-called grade-scarcity became more and more apparent to collectors after the advent of 3rd party grading.
(Please note that proofs, patterns and varieties - except the 1925 threepence - are excluded from this paper. However, where the mintage figures are given, they include all issues, including proofs. Where grading figures – we only consulted the NGC stats - are provided, it excludes details of coins that are not assigned a numerical number).
The Tickey (Threepence)
This denomination was struck uninterruptedly from 1923 to 1960, with two varieties in 1925. Only in 7 years were the mintage figures under a million, starting with the lowest figure being in 1931, followed by 1960, 1923, 1925, 1924, 1930 and 1928. With the exception of the ultra-rare 1931 issue, none of the other years are really scarce in circulated condition. Even the second-lowest mintage year (1960), with only 21 364 coins struck, is relatively common, even in uncirculated condition.
The two varieties of the 1925 Tickey showing a wreath and a Protea respectively
Source: WCNS
However, when one looks at grade scarcity, a different picture emerges. Excluding 1931, the three years with the lowest grading figures in the NGC population report are 1957 (28 coins graded), 1954 (32 coins graded) and 1955 (33 coins graded). The reason for this is simple: these coins were struck in their millions, and high-grade specimens are fairly common, resulting in collectors being hesitant to send them for grading.
For those years with lower mintage figures, mint state specimens are not really scarce, with the possible exception of the 1925 wreath issue and even for this coin, almost a third of the coins graded received an MS (mint state) grade. For all the years, except for 1931, examples exist of coins graded as high as MS 65, with not one coin being unique in that grade. Only three 1931 Tickeys have been graded, with the highest grade being a VF 25 – see picture below
This coin was sold in London in 2023 for £13 000 (just over R300 000 then). It came from the estate of the late Natalie Jaffe of City Coins in Cape Town.
Source: Sixbid
The Sixpence
Between 1923 and 1960, only two years were not minted being 1928 and 1939 when 30 proofs were struck. Only two years show a mintage figure of less than a 100 000 being 1925 (79 231 coins) and 1931 (4 805 coins). It is somewhat surprizing that the year with the 3rd lowest mintage is 1949, although the coin cannot be regarded as scarce at all with almost 200 000 struck.
1960 was the last year of issue for the coins of the Union of South Africa. The next year, the country became a Republic, and a decimal coinage was introduced.
Picture source: UCoin
Regarding grade scarcity, the same pattern is seen as with the threepence, where common years in general show lesser grading figures. However, it is still surprising that the years 1931 (very scarce) and 1951 (very common with 2.6 million coins minted) show the lowest grading numbers, with 24 coins each. Only 4 coins of the year 1931 have been graded in mint state condition, with none of the other years particularly scarce in MS – even the year 1925 having 33 coins graded in uncirculated condition.
The Shilling
Except for 1925 and 1939 & 1949 when only proofs were struck, the series was continuously minted for general circulation up to 1960. Certain years show much lower mintage figures than is generally the case for the threepence and sixpence issues, being 1948 (6 094) 1931 (6 603), 1947 (9 784) 1946 (26 924) 1944 (48 545) and 1945 (54 266).
Looking at the grade-scarcity of the shilling, one is surprised to find that many of the low mintage years cannot be considered scarce in regards to both their grading figures and the number graded in mint state i.e. 1945 (24 in mint state) 1947 (of the 46 graded, 41 are in MS) and 1948 (of the 75 graded, 73 are in MS). The 1946 date is a bit of an anomaly, with 42 graded, of which only 11 are in mint state.
Other years with a low number in MS are 1927 and 1928 (15 coins each), and then 1926 with only 4 coins graded in uncirculated condition.
Although one would guess that the rare 1931 date is again the scarcest date of the denomination, this is neither true for its mintage figure (1948 has a lower figure, although for non-proofs the 1931’s figure is indeed lower) nor its number graded and MS specimens. It shares the spotlight in terms of the number graded (30) and the number graded in MS (zero) with the year 1944.
Source: EBay
One can only speculate what the value of the last-mentioned coin would be if an MS example should be graded in future, but one can safely assume that the new owner will have to be someone with very deep pockets. As a matter of interest: many years ago, the author could recall a part-time coin dealer from Rawsonville, a hamlet near Worcester in the Western Cape, publishing his price list that included some Union coins. He had two 1944 shillings to sell, the one described as almost uncirculated and the other as brilliant uncirculated. For some reason, the later coin has never surfaced again, and one could only hope that it is still safely stored somewhere in an old-time collection.
The 2-Shillings / Florin
From 1923 to 1930 the word “Florin” was depicted on the 2/- piece after which it changed to 2-Shillings. Source: Numista
This denomination has been uninterruptedly struck from 1923 to 1960. The low mintage years were the following 1931 (445) 1950 (5 445) 1947 (5 492) 1948 (7 893) 1946 (14 480) and 1925 (50 146).
As we have seen with the shilling, a low number mintage figure does not necessarily equal low grading numbers nor numbers graded in mint state. The years 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1950 all show this pattern with multiple numbers graded with the overwhelming percentage being in mint state condition.
The only years that can be considered truly scarce are 1925, 1926, 1927 and 1931.
Although fifty issues of 1927 have been graded, only twelve achieved mint state grades. The others show the following results: -1926 (29 graded with 4 in MS) 1925 (25 graded with 2 in MS), and then the ultra-rare 1931 with only two coins graded, the one unexpectedly in MS condition, raising the question if it is not perhaps a proof coin graded incorrectly?
The Half Crown
The pattern that we have seen with the shilling and 2-shillings in terms of low mintage figures corresponding with high grading figures continues with the half crown. Here are examples:
Although the 1946 date also shows a low mintage of 11 388 and a relative high grading figure of 45, it is indeed scarce in mint state, with only 11 coins graded as such. Other coins with relatively high grading numbers with a low number in MS are the 1929 (58 graded with 12 in MS) and 1933 (53 graded with only 2 in MS).
Source: Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC®)
The three other dates with ultra-low MS numbers are 1927 (7 coins) 1926 (3 coins) and 1931 (only 1 coin).
The Crown
In terms of mintage figures, the following three dates have a mintage of less than 50 000 being 1955 (45 080), 1954 (17 040) and 1959 (6 139).
In terms of numbers graded, none of these coins can be considered scarce, with even the lowest number (for 1955) having more than a hundred coins graded. The same observation can be made regarding the numbers in MS with even the 1959 year that is considered a scarcity, having 105 coins graded in mint state condition, making it actually a common coin, with another 272 coins having been graded MS in proof-like condition.
Summary
As we have seen, in many instances, some coins have low grading figures because they are actually very common, resulting in collectors seeing very little benefit in having them encapsulated and graded. In other instances where coins have low mintage figures, collectors are inclined to send them for grading because of their perceived scarcity.
True rarities only come to the fore when coins have both low mintage and low grading figures, especially when the grading figures show a minimal number in high grades (i.e. mint state condition).
In our view, the following twelve coins are the top jewels in the SA Union silver series
