Botswana 1984 thebe
The republic of Botswana, landlocked in Southern Africa, was the protectorate of Bechuanaland prior to independence from Great Britain in 1966. Lacking minerals valuable on the world market, Botswana has escaped the violence afflicting its neighbors Angola, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It, unfortunately, has not escaped the ravages of AIDS. Coin denominations are thebe and pula. Pula translates as the word 'rain', a scarce commodity in this arid region. Shown is an aluminum one thebe. The reverse features a turaco bird. The first specimen was lot 73409 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, June 2021), where it sold for $70. The catalog description[1] noted, "BOTSWANA. Thebe, 1984. Llantrisant Mint. PCGS SPECIMEN-67 Gold Shield. KM-3. Surpassed in the PCGS census by just one example, this radiant Gem presents tremendous brilliance and a highly reflective nature to the surfaces. Ex: Kings Norton Mint Collection." This type was struck 1976, 1981-91. This example would be worthless were it not from the Kings Norton collection of specimens.
Recorded mintage: 5,000,000.
Specification: 0.80 g, aluminum, 18.5 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-35.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The June 2021 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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