Five Rand (R5)
The Black Wildebeest or Gnu, is portrayed on the reverse of the R5 coin. They are found in the northern grassveld regions of the Cape Province, throughout the Orange Free State to KwaZulu-Natal and the southern regions of Gauteng. Wildebeest hides were at one stage an important commodity in Kwa-Zulu-Natal.Although South Africa’s first decimal coin series was released in 1961, no R5 coins were minted until 1994. In that year, two R5 coins were issued: the reverse of the first commemorated the Presidential Inauguration and that of the second depicted the Gnu (Black Wildebeest). Since 1996, South Africa’s 11 official languages have been acknowledged annually, in rotation, through the representation of the word.
Language rotation
2002 – isiNdebele/ Tshivenda
2003 – Tshivenda/ siSwati
2004 – siSwati/ Xitsonga
2005 – Xitsong/ English
2006 – English/ Setswana
2007 – Setswana/ Sepedi/Sesotho
2008 – Sepedi/Sesotho/ Afrikaans
2009 – Afrikaans/ isiXhosa
2010 – isiXhosa/ isiZulu
2011 – isiZulu/ isiNdebele
Note: The “old” R5 is still a legal tender coin
Two Rand (R2)
Language rotation
2002 – isiZulu and isiXhosa
2003 – isiNdebele and isiZulu
2004 – Tshivenda and isiNdebele
2005 – siSwati and Tshivenda
2006 – Xitsonga and siSwati
2007 – English and Xitsonga
2008 – Setswana and English
2009 – Sepedi/Sesotho andSetswana
2010 – Afrikaans and Sepedi/Sesotho
2011 – isiXhosa and Afrikaans
One Rand (R1)
Language rotation
2002 – Afrikaans and Sepedi/Sesotho
2003 – isiXhosa and Afrikaans
2004 – isiZulu and isiXhosa
2005 – siNdebele and isiZulu
2006 -Tshivenda and isiNdebele
2007 – isiSwati and Tshivenda
2008 – Xitsonga and siSwati
2009 – English and Xitsonga
2010 – Setswana and English
2011 – Sepedi/Sesotho and Setswana
Fifty Cent (50c)
The Strelitzia (Strelitzia Reginae) Crane Flower or Bird-of-Paradise flower, occurs in the warm valleys of Zululand near the sea. With its long lasting, brilliant orange and blue flowers, this indigenous plant was introduced into cultivation in England towards the end of the 18th century and became a popular florist plant. This South African native has adapted so happily to foreign climates that it has even been adopted as the civic emblem of the American City of Los Angeles. The Strelitzia, together with the arum lily and blue agapanthus, first appeared on the 50c coin that was introduced in 1965 as part of the second decimal series. Representing the national flag, this flower design was modelled by Tommy Sasseen from a drawing by Cynthna Letty. With the introduction of South Africa’s third and current coin series, the Strelitzia is once again portrayed on the 50c coin. Die-sinker, Linda Lotriet modelled the design.
To commemorate South Africa’s participation in 2002 in the Soccer World Cup in Korea, more than 8 million 50c were made featuring “Soccer”. A soccer player dribbling the ball was depicted on the reverse of the coin. In 2003, in honour of South Africa’s participation, and its being the host country to the ICC Cricket World Cup South Africa 2003, a few million “Cricket” 50c circulation coins were manufactured and put into circulation. The reverse featured a player in the pose of catching the ball.
Language rotation
2002 – Setswana
2003 – Sepedi/Sesotho
2004 – Afrikaana
2005 – isiXhosa
2006 – isiZuli
2007 – isiNdebele
2008 – Tshivenda
2009 – siSwati
2010 – Xitsonga
2011 – English
Twenty Cent (20c)
Language rotation
2002 – English
2003 – Setswana
2004 – Sepedi/Sesotho
2005 – Afrikaana
2006 – isiXhosa
2007 – isiZuli
2008 – isiNdebele
2009 – Tshivenda
2010 – siSwati
2011 – Xitsonga
Ten Cent (10c)
Language rotation
2002 – Xitsonga
2003 – English
2004 – Setswana
2005 – Sepedi/Sesotho
2006 – Afrikaana
2007 – isiXhosa
2008 – isiZuli
2009 – isiNdebele
2010 – Tshivenda
2011 – siSwati
Five Cent (5c)
Language rotation
2002 – siSwati
2003 – Xitsonga
2004 – English
2005 – Setswana
2006 – Sepedi/Sesotho
2007 – Afrikaana
2008 – isiXhosa
2009 – isiZuli
2010 – isiNdebele
2011 – Tshivenda
