Botswana 1987 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. This specimen was lot 71138 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Santa Ana, CA, October 2020), where it sold for $75. The catalog description[1] noted, "BOTSWANA. Thebe, 1987. Llantrisant Mint. PCGS SPECIMEN-67 Gold Shield. With just one graded finer in the PCGS census, this shimmering Gem will undoubtedly generated interest as it is virtually never seen, especially so dazzling. 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: unknown.
Specification: 0.80 g, aluminum, 18.5 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-3.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The October 2020 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.
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