Protea Series | SA Mint

2010 Protea Series
Nadine Gordimer - 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature

The 2010 Protea Series depicts Nadine Gordimer who is a South African writer, political activist and Nobel laureate.

Nadine Gordimer was born on 20 November 1923 in Springs, a mining town outside Johannesburg. Her early interest in racial and economic inequality in South Africa was shaped in part by her parents’ own experiences.

She began writing stories at the age of nine and her first stories were published in 1937 when she was fifteen! Her first adult fiction was published when she was sixteen and she received her first major award in 1961. Literary recognition for her accomplishments pinnacled with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991, which noted that “through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity”.

Nadine Gordimer’s writing has long dealt with moral and racial issues. She was active in the anti-apartheid movement and she was one of the first people Mr Nelson Mandela wanted to see after his release from prison in 1990! Always questioning power relations and truth, Nadine Gordimer weaves her stories of ordinary people to reveal moral ambiguities and choices. Her quest continues even today, being active in the HIV/AIDS movement which has become a significant public health focus area in South Africa.

This Protea Prestige Set portrays two current relief portraits of Nadine Gordimer on the R25 (1 oz), with one of her quotes “Art defies defeat by its very existence”. The R5 (1/10th oz) depicts an image of Nadine Gordimer as she appears presently, together with another quote “Truth isn’t always beauty, but the hunger for it is”. On the sterling silver R1, Nadine Gordimer is again depicted with another quote, “Responsibility is what waits outside creativity”.

SPECIFICATIONS

	Mass	Diameter	Metal Content	Reverse Die-Sinker	Reverse Artist	Obverse Die-Sinker	Obverse Artist	Limited Edition
1 oz (R 25), 24ct Gold Coin	31.107 gram	32.69 mm	Au 999.9	N van Niekerk	N van Niekerk	AL Sutherland	AL Sutherland	2000
1/10 oz (R 5), 24ct Gold Coin	3.110 gram	16.50 mm	Au 999.9	C Moses	N van Niekerk	AL Sutherland	AL Sutherland	3000
R1 Sterling Silver Coin	15.00 gram	32.69 mm	Ag 925 Cu 75	MJ Scheepers	N van Niekerk	AL Sutherland	AL Sutherland	3000
Protea Prestige set								1000