South Africa 1932 1/2 penny
This specimen was lot 31009 in Stack's Bowers ANA auction (Chicago, August 2014), where it sold for $305.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "SOUTH AFRICA. 1/2 Penny, 1932. NGC MS-64 RB." South Africa, after a turbulent history between English and Dutch settlers and the native population, was constituted the Union of South Africa in 1910. Coinage commenced in 1923. The half pennies, modeled on British half pennies of the sterling system, featured the Dromedaris, a Dutch sailing ship, on the reverse. This type, struck 1923-36 in three sub-types, is common. The date is fairly common but proofs are rare. With the collapse of apartheid, collecting South African coins is now respectable again.
Recorded mintage: 106,000 plus 12 proofs.
Specification: bronze, plain edge, designed by Bertram MacKennal and G. E. Kruger-Gray.
Catalog reference: KM 13.3.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th 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, The August 2014 Chicago ANA Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, Featuring the David O'Harrow Collection, Irvine, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2014.
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