As a coin, there is nothing particularly remarkable about Vicky. She is an 1856 1 Penny, from back when pennies were much larger than the ones we usually see. She is in rather nice condition but ruined by the fact that someone has drilled a hole in God. (“Victoria Dei Gratia” means “Victoria, by the Grace of God…”)

At first I liked her because, when I got her, she was the oldest coin I had in my collection. But she is also beautiful with her rich, chocolate patina and great condition for a copper coin of her age. I also like the fact that Victoria looks so young and lovely here with her Alice bands and “conch-like” ear, as Bertie Wooster would have said.

The reverse of the coin carries the familiar image of Britannia or, as my Nigerian coin dealer says, “the lady in the wheelchair.” Britannia’s trident marks this coin as a “plain trident” variety. There is also an “ornamental trident” variant. The royal titles continue on the reverse. (“Britanniar[um] Reg[ina] Fid[ei] Def[ensatrix]” means “…Queen of all the British Territories and Defender of the Faith.”)

A few days ago I received my first 2016-dated South African coin in change. It is a perfect 20 Cent coin which I saw being poured out of a bank bag, so it would count as “Uncirculated”.

It is quite unusual to find 2016 coins in circulation in the Western Cape this early in the year. They usually start emerging in December.

The colony fell at the end of World War I after a notoriously civil wartime conflict between the German imperial garrison, their famous African Askari troops and some South African gentlemen including my grandfather.

This pre-war bronze coin with its beautiful, chocolate patina is an example of the small change that circulated in the colony. The obverse depicts the imperial crown of Germany and the “J” mintmark on the reverse indicates that this particular coin was struck in Hamburg.

(First published on Facebook on 17 April 2016.)

(First published on Facebook on 26 March 2016.)

(First published on Facebook on 25 March 2016.)

Obverse of an unknown, brass 5 Cent token.

This token was given to me by a friend a few years ago. It was purchased in Namibia at an antique store about two years ago. The obverse shows a monogram, probably either “N W Co” or “W N Co”. The reverse shows only the denomination.

The diameter is 21.5mm and the thickness is 1.8mm. It weighs 4.5g and is made of brass.

The fact that the token came to me from Namibia does not necessarily mean that it is Namibian or even African. Something about the hatching and texture of the design elements, combined with the diagonal slash through the “c” on the reverse reminds me of some American tokens of the early 20th century. Those, however, are very slim pickings to go on indeed! No amount of Googling has turned up even a remote match and none of the experts I have consulted online have recognised this piece.

Reverse of an unknown, brass 5 Cent token.

The identification of such things is made a lot more difficult by the fact that a very large number of companies have minted their own tokens in the last 100 years, and many of them were short-lived as business entities. This may have been produced by any number of small, obscure outfits that were unknown beyond their local communities.

Therefore, I am offering a reward: one silver coin of my choosing for the first person to provide me with a verifiable identification of this token. The exact coin will depend on what I have available at the time and how far I need to ship it. However, I will warrant that the condition will be at least VF and the silver content at least .500. It will probably be South African but I’m negotiable and will probably offer you a choice.

Most of all, though, you will have my sincere gratitude for helping me resolve this mystery.

A coffee plant, with a plantation in the background, depicted on a Brazilian 5 Cruzeiro coin.

When I started this blog, I resolved to use my Google Analytics results to decide which country I would choose when selecting the next coin for display. I was quite surprised to find that Brazil has been the second highest source of visitors to my site in the last month. I have very few Brazilian coins and, because they are uncommon in Africa, the ones I have are rather banged up. Additionally, I know very little about the currency of Brazil but, thankfully, I do rather like coffee!

Brazil is an example of a country that experienced, and then recovered from, a rampant inflation crisis. Having used the historic Real as currency from the 1790s until 1942, the nation moved onto the Cruzeiro, subdivided into 100 Centavos, at a rate of 1000 Réis to one Cruzeiro. This currency was named after the Southern Cross constellation. The first Cruzeiro (now called the “Cruzeiro antigo”) was replaced in 1967 with the Cruzeiro novo at a rate of 1000 “antigos” to one “novo”. In 1986, this second Cruzeiro was replaced with the Cruzado, again at a rate of 1000 to one. This was replaced in 1989 with the Cruzado novo at 1000 to one. In 1990, the Cruzado novo was renamed and became the third Cruzeiro. In 1993 the third Cruzeiro was replaced with the Cruzeiro Real, again at a rate of 1000 to one. However, the Cruzeiro Real was not a circulating currency. In circulation, it was replaced with the Real at a rate of 2750 Cruzeiro Reals to one.

That is tough to follow but it means that if you saved up 2 750 000 000 000 000 000 of the 1942 Reals and upgraded them with each currency change, you would have 1 Real today. Of course, this doesn’t reflect the actual value of goods but it is nevertheless chilling to think of how fragile currencies can be over the course of a single human lifetime. Nevertheless, Brazil recovered and has enjoyed a comparatively stable currency in the form of the Real since 1993.

The fetching reverse design of a 1980 Brazilian 5 Cruzeiro, featuring the value on a ribbon and a coffee been alongside the date.

The coin on display is a 5 Cruzeiro piece falling into the 1967 to 1986 Cruzeiro novo period. The coin is struck in stainless steel, like many Brazilian coins. This makes it very durable and attractive, but devilishly difficult to photograph. My example is far from being in perfect condition but it is one of the few South American coins in my collection. The obverse depicts a coffee plant against the background of a coffee plantation, and the reverse echoes this with a coffee bean to the right of the date.

President Jomo Kenyatta adorns the obverse of a 1975 Kenyan 50 cent coin.

President Jomo Kenyatta led the African nation of Kenya from independence in 1963 until his death in 1978. A revolutionary and Pan-Africanist, he was imprisoned for several years by the British colonial authorities due to allegations of involvement with the Mau Mau movement. There remains no convincing evidence of his membership of the Mau Mau and it seems likely that he was convicted on trumped-up charges by a hostile judge.

As with some other African nations, the independence coinage of Kenya replaced the traditional portrait of the reigning British monarch with that of their newly elected leader. Until approximately 1969 there was no inscription accompanying Kenyatta’s portrait. Upon his death, a decade later, his image was replaced with that of his successor, Daniel arap Moi. However, Kenya’s latest coinage issue, running from 2005 to 2010, restores Kenyatta’s portrait and inscription. This long tradition of African portraiture on Kenyan coins looks due to come to an unfortunate end as the country’s 2010 constitution prohibits the depiction of any person on the national currency.

The coat of arms of Kenya on the reverse of a 1975 50 cent coin.

The reverse of most Kenyan coins depicts the country’s coat of arms. The nations of East Africa have traditionally incorporated the lion among their national symbols, here represented as spear-carrying bearers. The African shield rests on a depiction of Mount Kenya, adorned with fruits of the territory’s bounty: pineapples, maze, coffee and tea. This warm combination is enhanced by the appearance on the shield itself of a rooster carrying an axe. This symbol, also used by Kenyatta’s political party, represents progress, hard work and success at the breaking of a new dawn. The motto, “Harambee,” means “pulling together” in Swahili.

President Kenyatta is regarded by Kenyans as the father of their nation and is memorialised in the names of many landmarks in the country. Shortly after enjoying a celebratory reunion of his large family in 1978 he died of of a heart attack, well into is eighties. Although there are many different opinions about his time in office there can be no doubt that he served as a powerful, unifying influence over his nation and continues, as a symbol, to do so today. I selected this coin to thank my Kenyan visitors, who have generated the largest number of foreign hits on this site so far.

The Greater Kudu, depicted on the reverse of a 2012 South African Two Rand coin.

South Africa’s Two Rand coin has a longer history than most people realise. Although the current nickel plated copper circulation coin was first introduced in 1989, there was an earlier, gold Two Rand coin minted every year from 1961 to 1983. This was an investment coin identical in dimension, weight and fineness to the sovereign of the pre-decimal English system. Indeed, at the time of South Africa’s currency decimalisation, two Rand was the equivalent face value of one Pound. Practically, though, the 1989 Two Rand coin was the successor to the blue Two Rand note, which it replaced in circulation.

The reverse of the coin bears an image of a male Greater Kudu,  a large antelope found throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa but not, interestingly, in most of South Africa itself.

When initially released in 1989, the coin bore an image of the South African coat of arms on the obverse along with the name of the country in both Afrikaans and English, the two national languages of the time. After South Africa’s political changes, a further nine languages received official status in the country and the obverse designs of circulation coins were updated accordingly. From 1996 to 2000 the obverse of the Two Rand coin carried the same coat of arms with the name of the country written in the Xhosa language that is endemic to the Eastern Cape province. In 2000 the obverse design was changed again to depict a new coat of arms with the Xhosa legend. Both the old and the new obverse designs are found carrying the 2000 date but only the new arms were used from 2001 onwards.

South Africa’s coat of arms since 2000, with the name of the country in Afrikaans on the left and Sepedi/Sesotho on the right, on the obverse of a 2012 Two Rand coin.

In 2002, the South African Mint introduced a rotational system to allow each of the eleven national languages equal time on each coin denomination. This resulted in the Two Rand coin again carrying two languages but with these languages changing each year. Depicted here is the obverse design for 2012, bearing the name of the country in Afrikaans on the left and in Sepedi and Sesotho on the right. Although distinct from each other as languages, the words for “South Africa” are identical in Sepedi and Sesotho.

The motto beneath the coat of arms, “!KE E: |XARRA ||KE,” is written in the extinct |Xam language of the Khoisan people and means, “Diverse people unite.” This coin is therefore interesting because, in three inscriptions, it salutes four South African languages – three official and one extinct. This is also the case with the 2010 coin, which has identical inscriptions to that of 2012, and the 2009 coin, on which Sepedi and Sesotho share the obverse with the Setswana language.

Two commemorative Two Rand coins have been released into circulation since 1989. In 2004 a Two Rand coin celebrated ten years of freedom and, in 2013, another celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Both of these circulated side by side with regular coins bearing these dates. Several other commemorative Two Rand coins have also been minted in .925 silver but none of these are circulation coins and they are seldom seen outside investment collections.