However, the date on mine is 2020 and not 2019 as with every other mention on the net. I cannot find one single instance of this coin with a 2020 date, so my concern is it's authenticity.
Can anyone shed some light? I would be eternally grateful.
Many thanks,
Philip
Would like to grow my collection with a few gems. Mainly focused on South Africa during 1890-1948. Pre-1890 always desirable too, but finding it much harder (and more expensive) to come by. Also keen on all African coins pre-1950.
There is no mention on the South African Mint web site of any carry over of these coins into 2020. Doesn't seem like a coin anyone would go to the trouble of counter-fitting though. A 2019 reverse die with a 2020 obverse die? Seems like that would be well known though. What language is used on the obverse?
Hard to give you an answer on authenticity without a picture but unless there’s a serious problem in South Africa with counterfeiting it would seem pointless to do it for a coin worth 10-15 cents. Error or a mule would be a more likely answer.
Here are some pics. My apologies, not my best photography work.
Would like to grow my collection with a few gems. Mainly focused on South Africa during 1890-1948. Pre-1890 always desirable too, but finding it much harder (and more expensive) to come by. Also keen on all African coins pre-1950.
If that is a counterfeit it's extremely well done! The color looks like aluminium, but that's probably just the picture. Is the weight correct? It should be 5.5 grams. If it is, I'm voting for genuine...
Edit: Even the language matches the South African language schedule (2019 was South Africa / Afrika-Dzonga and 2020 was Aforika Borwa / South Africa)
Quote: "Tovarich"Yeah, no reason to think that's a counterfeit. If the measurements are accurate, I'd e-mail the picture to the mint and see what they say about it
I agree but I go back to my original statements "A 2019 reverse die with a 2020 obverse die? Seems like that would be well known though." There is absolutely no mention of it on the mint web site and nothing about it on the internet that we can find.
In the past, South African commemorative issues have sometimes spanned two years without widespread official announcements of this. Good examples are the 2002/2003 50 Cents cricket commemorative...
The SA Mint has recently announced that the final coin in this series is to be released this year, so clearly they don't consider this series of commemoratives to be "concluded" just yet:
I've just been through my tub of these coins that I've taken from circulation and all of mine are definitely dated 2019, but it would not be unprecedented for some 2020 dated coins to have been released. I'll check my pocket change carefully in the next few weeks and post here if I find any more 2020 coins.
The pandemic has seen a massive decline in the number of coins exchanged in transactions in South Africa as we have had a large reduction in economic activity and a shift towards electronic transactions. It wouldn't surprise me if these 2020 coins have been out there without people noticing. It is also the case that with the reduction of demand for coins, many might still sitting in their mint packaging in bank vaults, waiting to be released. (In about 2013, I received several AU-condition 1995 5 Rand coins in change that must have been forgotten somewhere for a while.)
I'd suggest adding this coin to the catalogue as a regular coin and seeing what develops.
