World Heritage Site Series

The Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site

In an initiative to stimulate public interest in South African coinage, a coin design competition was introduced in 2007 using the R2 gold coin series which has featured South Africa's World Heritage Sites since 2002.  The 2007 winning design depicting the “Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site” was adapted for the 2008 R2 (¼ oz) gold coin.  Another competition took place in 2008 for the 2009 theme: “The Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site”.

The winning design by Mrs Jacky Lloyd of Cape Town, features a landscape with receding rocky hills, the Aloe pilansil tree and a “haru om” hut of the Nama, who are nomadic sheep and goat herders.  The designer included a seldom seen rare flowering bulb called Crinum minimum in her design.  The flower is depicted in front of the hut.  The Southern Cross star formation in the sky above the hut is the most recognisable star formation in the southern hemisphere.

On 27th June 2007, the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape became the 8th South African Site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO as a place of “outstanding value to humanity”. This 160,000 ha World Heritage Site is a remarkable and dramatic mountainous desert in the north-west of the country that is uniquely owned and managed by the Nama community who are descendents of the Khoi-Khoi people.

R2 Gold Coin Specifications

R2 (1/4 oz) Gold Coin

Limited Edition: 2000

The 24 carat gold R2 (1/4 oz) coin is packaged in a black leatherette box. Each coin issued has an individually numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

Certificate of Authenticity

Each coin and coin set issued by the South African Mint Company has a certificate of authenticity. These certificates features the year, coin specifications, limited edition and a description of the product, as well as bearing the signature of the South African Mint’s Managing Director, Mr Andile Mvinjelwa. To prevent the duplication of a South African Mint product the certificates are re-designed each year to include the original coin designs and each certificate is individually numbered according to the limited edition of the coin or coin set. The South African Mint’s logo features as part of the layout, but it is also printed on the certificate in a transparent ink,
which is only visible under ultra-violet light.