South Africa 2000 ounce
This specimen was lot 31844 in Heritage sale 3073 (Chicago, April 2019), where it sold for $1,560. The catalog description[1] noted, "Republic gold Proof 'Sable' Ounce 2000-PTA PR69 Deep Cameo PCGS, Pretoria mint. Mintage: 591. Popular issue from the Natura series that features the imagery of a Sable antelope. Nearly flawless, with unending flash that radiates off the lemon-gold surfaces." 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 sable antelope is depicted on this issue of 2000. Later issues were denominated 100 rand. The "PTA ZOO" marked on the specimen probably means "Pretoria Zoo".
Recorded mintage: 1,514 + 591 marked "PTA ZOO".
Specification: 31.10 g, 0.999 fine gold, 32.89 mm diameter, AGW 1.00 troy oz.
Catalog reference: KM 261.
- 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.
- 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.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3073, featuring the Lake County Collection of British coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2019.
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