The new theme for this coin series began in 2009 and is called "Maritime History of South Africa". The São Gabriel was featured on the Tickey (2½c) and the Drommedaris on the R2 Crown. Both these sail ships are recorded in history books as bringing the first explorers to our shores. By 1900 steam ships had supplanted sail ships. The RMS Scot and the RMS Windsor Castle III are featured in 2010 on the Tickey (2½c) and R2 Crown respectively. These two vessels represent an era of mail steamships, playing a major role in South African history by conveying mail, equipment, immigrants and well-known personalities to and from our country during the boom days of gold and diamond discoveries and resulting industrial development.

Of all the steamships built before the Union - Castle amalgamation, the Scot stands out as the most famous. She set off on her maiden voyage from Southampton to Cape Town on 24 July 1891. In 1893, the Scot had established a new record time for the passage from England to South Africa (14 days, 19 hours), a record that stood until 1936, when the Stirling Castle reduced the time to 13 days 9 hours. In outward appearance her clipper bow, tall funnels and graceful lines easily made her one of the most handsome vessels afloat and she was popularly described as the "Albatross of the South". However, she proved to be a terrific coal consumer and expensive to operate and was sold within a few years of the amalgamation of the Union and Castle companies.

The Windsor Castle III was launched on June 23, 1959 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. At the time of the launch, she was the largest liner built in England and was the flagship of the Union-Castle Line. The Windsor Castle’s maiden voyage from Southampton to Durban via Las Palmas, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London began on August 18, 1960, and was completed in a mere 11 days and 12 hours later. After 17 years of service, on Tuesday 6 September 1977 at four o’clock, this great liner left the Cape Town harbour under the fire jet salute of the tugboats, while the customary chorus of ships’ sirens sent the "Greatest Liner on the Sunshine Route" into history.