A 1oz gold leopard for South Africa
- November 05, 2020
- by
- Pierre
The South African Mint has announced the launch of the penultimate coin in the Big 5 series, featuring the leopard.
The South African Mint has a long tradition of minting coins that pay homage to South Africa’s rich biodiversity and revered wildlife that have great significance to its international identity and ecological heritage. In continuing its time honoured legacy, the South African Mint launched the bi-annual Big 5 coin programme last year featuring wildlife synonymous with Southern Africa – the Elephant, Lion, Rhinoceros, Leopard and the Buffalo.
Coins range
The coin range consists of a 24ct 1oz proof gold coin, a 1oz proof platinum coin, a brilliant uncirculated (BU) fine silver coin and a proof quality silver double capsule set.
The range also includes two combination sets:
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the 1oz Big 5 Leopard and 1oz Krugerrand privy marked fine silver proof coin set,
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the 1oz Big 5 Leopard and 1oz Krugerrand privy marked gold proof coin set.
Coins description
The reverse of the coin features two halves of the face of a leopard and when two coins are placed next to each other, a complete image of the face is seen. When multiple coins are placed next to each other, a leap of leopards is formed.
The obverse of the coins feature a breath-taking side view of the leopard, with its characteristic spots indented in the metal. The face fills up much of the surface area of the coin, and the words ‘South Africa’, ‘Big 5 2020’ appear below the image, with the national coat-of-arms in the centre signifying its legal tender status.
A coin program supported by WCT
When it first launched the coin programme in 2019, the South African Mint made a commitment to support conservation efforts directed at protecting the Big 5.To this end, a partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) was announced at the beginning of 2020.
“We hope this partnership will contribute to creating a positive future for endangered animals. By collaborating with the WCT, we are investing in South Africa’s wildlife and taking meaningful action towards restoring South Africa’s position as the home of the big five,” said Mamabolo, south african mint CEO.
Sources: South African Mint and NUMISMAG
