South Africa 1996 ounce
This specimen was lot 1575 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $4,080. The catalog description[1] noted, "SOUTH AFRICA. Gold Ounce Natura, 1996. NGC PROOF-70 Ultra Cameo. The ever-popular elephant graces both sides of this 1996 proof issue. Seldom-seen quality with only 14 certified in PF-70 Ultra Cameo by NGC." 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 krugerrand was introduced in 1967 as a one ounce gold bullion coin and was very popular around the world despite bearing the effigy of Paul Kruger, the chief exponent of apartheid. The white supremacist regime was ousted in 1989 but, amazingly enough, the krugerrand remains in production. As competition for it, the South African government also marketed the Natura series, featuring various animals native to the region. The elephant is depicted on this issue of 1996, the third of the series.
Recorded mintage: 4,472 + 300 countermarked.
Specification: 31.11 g, 0.999 fine gold, 1.000 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Fr-B10; KM-204.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Hern, Brian, John Bothma and Hercie Pieterse, Hern's Handbook on South African Coins & Patterns, Ferndale, South Africa, 2013.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The 2022 NYINC Sale: World and Ancient Coins, featuring the Mark and Lottie Salton Collection and the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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