South Africa 1935 1/2 penny
This specimen was lot 32217 in Heritage sale 3076 (Long Beach, CA, September 2019), where it sold for $1,320. The catalog description[1] noted, "South Africa: George V 1/2 Penny 1935 MS67 Red and Brown NGC, Bright and sparkling mint luster with peach tones around the edges and a dark area of iridescent tone in the center of the obverse." 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 common but proofs are rare. With the collapse of apartheid, collecting South African coins is now respectable again.
Recorded mintage: 405,000 + 20 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]Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3076, featuring the Allen Moretti Swiss Collection and the James Mossman Collection of Canadian Coinage, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2019.
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