An Overview of South Africa Union Coinage

[World Colonial]

This post is being written at the request of a forum colleague and covers British South Africa and South Africa Union coinage. Though I think of both as part of colonial South Africa, I intend to provide a subsequent overview of ZAR in a subsequent post. My interest in both originates from having lived in Johannesburg from 1972 to 1974.

 

South Africa was the first series I pursued when I resumed collecting in 1998. I did so by buying a Krause manual and judgmentally selecting it based upon my interest and the catalog prices at the time which led me to believe that I had a reasonable possibility of buying the majority of the issues in higher grades. (This of course, turned out to be completely wrong but that is a minor detail I will conveniently overlook for the moment.)

 

The Union of South Africa was formed on May 31, 1910 from the two British colonies (Cape Province and Natal) and two independent states of Dutch descent, the Zuid Afrika Republic (ZAR) and the Orange Free State (OFS). The South Africa Union series originated in 1923 with the opening of the South African Mint and continued until 1960 when the Republic of South Africa (RSA) was formed in 1961. The monetary system was based upon the British system of the time and consisted of 10 denominations: a bronze farthing (1/4D), half penny (1/D), and Penny (1D); silver three pence (3D or tickey), six pence (6D), shilling (1/), two shillings or florin (2/), 2 ½ shillings or half crown (2/6), and crown (5/); and finally a gold ½ sovereign (1/2 pound) and sovereign/pound. Not all denominations were issued annually as I will explain later.

 

These coins were issued in both business strike and proof. Additionally, there were also numerous patterns or more properly, patterns and trial pieces. (There were also a handful of coins issued in the 19th century attributed to Griquatown and in the Cape Province which are also classified as “patterns”.)

 

Since then, I have come to appreciate how difficult these coins are to find and how under rated the series is from both a collectability and financial standpoint. Most collectors would never know this by looking at the catalog prices, mainly the Krause manual which had not changed when I last checked in the 2006 issue, from the prices realized on the infrequent occasions when any better coins do come up for sale or from the mintages.

 

I would provide historical background on the series, but I have little reference material available to me as I have never seen a real reference book and do not even know if one exists. Aside from Krause, the sources I have include the 2008 Hern Handbook of South African Coins & Patterns (a South Africa price guide similar to the US “Red Book”), A History of Currency in South Africa (written in 1956 but including essentially nothing on Union Coinage) and Nomisma, a journal describing die varieties and providing estimates of attrition and rarity using public records. Probably the most decent summary is included on the website of the South African Coin Company which I will summarize here. The reasons for the relative rarity and scarcity of these issues can be attributed to:

 

The original mintages were low for a large number of issues, both in relative and in some instances absolute terms.

 

There were apparently few local collectors of South African coinage to preserve coins during most of this period.

 

The coins were demonetized in 1961 following the conversion to decimalization. Many were melted as a result.

 

The increase in the price of silver, first in the 1960’s and then in the 1979/1980 silver boom, led to additional melting.

 

Of the few collectors from this period, most of them apparently did an extremely poor job of preserving and storing their coins. This accounts for the difficulty in finding problem free coins in higher grades or sometimes in any decent collectible grade, even for the supposedly more common issues.

 

The Apartheid regime probably reduced the potential demand from non-local sources. There is no direct evidence of this to my knowledge but most of the non-local collectors even today seem to be from Britain and the former colonies plus the United States. It certainly had a negative impact on the “investor” market to the extent that there is one, as has been illustrated by the performance of ZAR coinage in the last 10 years.

 

As I have written before in my prior posts, there is a difference between rarity/scarcity and availability. Until recently as prices rose, availability increased somewhat (but not much) and the census populations (mainly NGC though PCGS has graded many premium scarce and rare issues) have also increased.

 

Unlike with most world issues, the census populations are larger than normal but my experience attributes this to a market preference by South African collectors for certified coins. This is not true of most non-US coins. So though there are more graded coins from South Africa than just about all other markets, this is not an indication of the relative scarcity of these coins based upon my informal observations. As an example, the South Africa populations are usually or fat least frequently higher than the UK, but almost all of those coins are definitely more common.

 

For simplicity, I am going to segment this series into four categories with a subsection for each one: patterns, King George V (KGV), King George VI (KGVI) and Queen Elizabeth II (QEII).

 

Patterns: The vast majority of patterns are the KGV issues, with maybe slightly more than half struck from 1931-1934. But the reported mintages for all of them are 10 or less and I have only seen any of them come up for sale once. The scarcest are unique proofs of the 1928 sovereign, 1925 3D (second type) and 1925 6D.

 

The undated Griquatown issues attributed to 1815-1816 are also very scarce though I have seen several of them for sale recently. (There is a dispute as to whether these coins were really issued for circulation or even at that time.) The most common by far is the 1890 Queen Victoria Penny. There are several varieties of this coin and it comes up for sale several times a year. The Hern number of up to 100 for the most common varieties is probably reasonably accurate based upon the sale frequency. The 1889 Cape of Good Hope pennies are not particularly scarce either; only relatively so.

 

King George V: This series was struck between 1923 and 1936 as both business strikes and proofs. There are no crowns for this issue. Here is my estimate of the relative scarcity of these coins:

 

Unobtainable: 1933, 1934 and 1936 business strike farthings, the silver business strikes of 1931. Of these eight coins, the 1931 6D and 1/ have reported mintages of about 4800 and 6000 respectively but I have only seen a couple of each and they were badly worn. The NGC and PCGS census list one each of the 6D in MS-65 and a handful collectively of the 1931 3D and 1931 2/6 in fine or lower. I have never seen the other four in any grade. This makes more sense for the farthings because the mintages were less than 50, but the 1931 2/ mintage is 383. This experience is actually relatively common for South Africa coinage as even many low mintage dates have apparently low survivability rates and mostly or typically in low grade.

 

In addition to the above coins, there was also a 1928 proof farthing with a mintage of four reportedly issued with some of the 1930 proof sets. An NGC PR-62 BN was offered on eBay about five years ago for $10,000.

 

Other scarce and very scarce coins deserving mention: The next scarcest issues I would rate would be the 1923 and 1924 sovereigns and the 1926, 1930, 1932 and 1933 proof sets. The 1923 sovereign has a mintage of 64 while the proof sets have mintages of 12-20. I have seen a handful of the 1923 and 1924 coins and one 1933 proof set which sold for $25,200 last year. Of the others, I have seen partial sets of the 1930 and 1932 twice and a 1926 red farthing once.

 

After the above, other very scarce issues include the rest of the proof sets (except for the 1923), 1930 farthing, 1925 3D wreath reverse; 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1930 1/; 1925-1928 2/; 1925-1929 and 1933-1935 2/6. Of these coins, the 1930 farthing, 1927 1/ and 1925 2/6 very occasionally come up for sale in decent grade. The others, essentially never. Unlike the above coins, these are somewhat more obtainable as problem coins or in a state of preservation which most collectors would find unacceptable, but even then not that often.

 

Moderately scarce: Honorable mentions include: 1925, 1926, 1928 and 1933 1/2D; 1928, 1932 and 1933 1D; 1935 6D; 1923, 1929, and 1930 2/; 1923 2/6. These coins are slightly more available than the prior category but still almost never available in high grade, problem free or not. They are somewhat more available in average to better circulated grades.

 

“Common” issues: The most common coins in the KGV series include: 1923, 1924, 1928, 1931 and 1932 1/4D, 1923, 1924, 1935 and 1936 1/2D; 1923, 1935, 1936 1D; 1932 silver (all); 1933 6D; and the gold coinage excluding the 1923 and 1924 sovereigns. These coins are more regularly available in high grade (including certified) though I doubt more often in most instances than approximately a dozen times per year and many less. For example, the 1923 1D has an NGC population of just over 100 and I see it more than most, but still not that much. Except for the most common, I personally see these coins come up for sale a handful of times per year.

 

Other observations: These coins in higher grade are well struck. There are a handful of cameos known to me but none of the bronze. All red bronze for this series are either very scarce or rare. Though Hern specifically states that a handful of 1923 red specimens were struck, my understanding is that the general practice was to darken the coins at the mint. I have seen a few of the 1/D at auction and the NGC census lists a few more, but not many. All are business strikes except for that one 1926 farthing.

 

King George VI: This series was struck between 1937 and 1952 as both business strikes and proof issues.

 

Essentially unobtainable: The 1939 proof set with a reported mintage of 30. I have seen one set for sale in the 2006 Spinks auction of the Remick collection. It was not a particularly well preserved set. This set is particularly hard to find probably because there are no business strikes of the 6D and 1/.

 

Other scarce and very scarce coins deserving mention: The 1938 proof set with a mintage of 44 (I have the 2/6 in NGC PR-64), 1944-1948 1/; 1938 and 1946-1950 2/; 1946-1950 2/6; and the 1952 business strike ½ and one pound gold. Except for the proof set, all of the others are business strikes.

 

Some of these business strikes issues are deceptively scarce and grossly under rated. The 1944 1/ has a reported mintage of just under 50,000 yet I own the only specimen (AU-58) in the NGC and PCGS census. (The census numbers for KGVI are generally much lower than for KGV and ZAR. I would attribute this partially to the low market prices but not totally.)

 

The 1949 2/ has a mintage approximately 100 times the 1949 2/6 (about 200,000 to 1,891) yet I would rate them approximately equally scarce. On these two gold coins, I have no idea why they were issued because South Africa left the gold standard along with the UK in 1932. But regardless of the reason, my suspicion is that most of the approximately 5,000 coins minted for each denomination have been melted. I happen to own a gem BU ½ pound but almost never see them for sale.

 

Of the above coins, these are occasionally but still seldom seen in any grade. And of those that are seen, more often than not, they are higher grade specimens. This is somewhat consistent with what I understand for low mintage (that is, those that are ACTUALLY low mintage) US coins but the difference here is that my limited observations lead me to believe that few were saved from circulation.

 

In addition to the above coins, the 1937, 1943-1946 and 1950 proof sets are scarce or somewhat scarce. The 1950 is far more available with a mintage of 500. The others have mintages of 104 to 150.

 

Common issues: The most common coins in this series are the farthings post 1940; crowns (1947-1952) and 1951 plus 1952 proof sets. The proof sets are moderately easy to find with mintages of 2000 and 12000. The others I believe to be the most common coins both in absolute terms and in high grade. But even so, better mint state specimens are still hard to find. Of the ones I did not list, many are still not that “common”; they are just not as scarce as the others I described prior to this section. I still almost never see them in high grade, especially problem free.

 

Other observations: These coins are not particularly well struck. The hair detail in the KGVI portrait is usually not full detailed. Most uncirculated specimens also typically lack original luster and have granular surfaces. Red bronze are not as scarce as KGV, but I have still encountered few business strikes in collecting this series. (I have never seen any bronze proofs dated prior to 1947.) Cameos are most common for the crowns and gold and almost never for the bronze. There are two listed in the combined NGC and PCGS census, including one 1950 1/2D PR-64 RD UCAM.

 

Queen Elizabeth II: This series was struck from 1953 until 1960 in both business strikes and proof.

 

There are no “rare’ issues in this series by my standards but it would be misleading to think that these coins are easy to find in premium quality because most of them are not. Finding uncirculated specimens is generally not a problem, but almost all of them suffer from either a weak strike or poor striking quality. I cannot recall a single specimen which has anywhere near a mark free portrait. Possibly coins graded MS-65 or higher do, but the best coin I own is an MS-64.

 

Of these issues, some of the 1950’s gold had the lowest mintages. But the scarcest coins are the 1959 and 1960 business strikes. I’ve never handled one of these but these may actually be rejected proofs. The Hern catalog lists both of them as PL. But in any event, the quality of the strike on these coins is terrible.

 

As with the KGVI, the crowns were issued in proof, PL and business strikes. The business strikes are by far the scarcest though my assumption is that most collectors consider them interchangeable because this seems to be the case with at least some other dates and denominations from the entire Union series.

 

The 1959 crown has the lowest mintage and is considered the “key” date, but in my opinion is actually common and probably among the most common. The combined mintage for all three combinations is 6,139 but the low mintage was widely known at the time and since it was specifically requested by collectors, a substantial proportion of them must have been saved and many in high grade. I do not see as many as I used to but it would have been among the last candidate for the melting pot.

 

Outside of the gold (mildly scarce), the proof sets are generally not hard to find, though less so for the 1958 and 1959 since the mintages are only 900 and 985. Cameos are still scarce for all issues other than the crown and there are none in the census for the bronze. I happen to have a 1957 NGC PR-67 RD 1/D that I consider UCAM on the obverse, but it must have failed the designation due to the reverse.

 

Summary

 

Proportionately, South Africa Union coinage contains a significant number of rarities and very scarce issues. The typical collector will find completing most anything is this series a very difficult challenge. Though I have had opportunities to do so if I had chosen to acquire the coins, I do not have a complete set of anything even after almost 11 years. That is no complete proof set or business strike run, whether for a single year or for denominations for any of the monarchs. This is true despite the fact that my collection is presumably better than most, consisting of close to 200 slabbed coins including a decent number of the scarcer issues I have profiled, but none of the rarest.

 

There have also been a few times where I have had the opportunity to complete something but not many and sometimes even then, only in low absolute grades or by acquiring uncirculated specimens that were not appealing. Compared to most other series, South Africa Union I would consider to be much scarcer and a much greater challenge to acquire and complete.

 

[ant]

[physics-fan3.14]

Thats a great, detailed overview. Thanks! (You got any pictures of some of these coins?)

[World Colonial]

Thnaks for the compliments. I do but every time I have tried to do so, I am asked for a URL. If you can explain the proper way to do this, I will add a few. I do not have most of them with me in PHX, but I can include some that I do.

[DC Dawg]

Thnaks for the compliments. I do but every time I have tried to do so, I am asked for a URL. If you can explain the proper way to do this, I will add a few. I do not have most of them with me in PHX, but I can include some that I do.

 

Rather than try to explain, I created a link from a site that creates smaller URLs.

 

Use: "h t t p: / / t i n y u r l . c o m/SAfricaUnionCoinage" to tell others how to get to this page. Remove all of the spaces. I had to do this to get past the filtering by the board software.

 

Scott

[TJ'S Coins]

Great overview that explains a lot about SA Union coinage.

[World Colonial]

I just saw this on the NGC registry today for those who might be interested.

 

http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/ViewPersonalCollection.aspx?UserCollectionID=2023&Tab=list

 

Its the most complete KGV Union set I have ever seen. It contains one of every date and denomination, though some of the coins are proofs insstead of business strikes.

 

The entries in the set I think confirm what I wrote on the eight business strikes being the scarcest issues. He has the 1931 6P NGC MS-65 listed, but not the others.

[World Colonial]

Here is one example from my collection. 1934 PCGS PR-66 Six Pence. The proof mintage for this issue is 24.