South Africa 1893 2 shillings
This specimen was lot 21535 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Philadelphia, August 2018), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "SOUTH AFRICA. 2 Shillings, 1893. PCGS MS-64. The undisputed key date for the type, struck in quantities that just exceeded 100,000, with very few of those qualifying as Mint State. Of those, even rarer are near-Gems such as the present coin. Originally toned, this example boasts shades of intermingled olive, blue and copper-gold with the addition of a fully crisp design and sparkling, uninterrupted luster. VERY RARE in this quality and presently the only Mint State example certified by PCGS. Of the highest importance to collectors seeking to build an elite set of this ZAR-era coinage." South Africa, after a turbulent history between English and Dutch settlers and the native population, was constituted the Union of South Africa in 1910. This coin was issued 1892-97 by the Afrikaner republic before its conquest by the British. With the collapse of apartheid, collecting South African coins is now respectable again.
Recorded mintage: 107,000, the key date.
Specification: 11.31 g, 0.925 fine silver, .336 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: KM-6.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Hern, Brian, John Bothma and Hercie Pieterse, Hern's Handbook on South African Coins & Patterns, Ferndale, South Africa, 2013.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, Kyle Ponterio and Chris Chatigny, The August 2018 Philadelphia ANA Auction: World Coins and Selections from the El Dorado Collection of Colombian Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2018.
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