The South African Five Cents coin (abbreviated as 5c) was a small circulating coin of the Rand currency. It was introduced when the currency was decimalised in 1961 and replaced the earlier pre-decimal sixpence.
The first version was made of silver and was only issued for four years. In 1965, the Second Decimal Coinage was introduced, in which the Five Cents denomination was made of nickel. This was changed to a larger copper-plated steel version in 1990, issued until 2011 after which time the denomination was discontinued.
Apart from the regular designs, there were also four commemorative issues with different obverses.
5c coins issued in 1979 circulated for 11 years until they were replaced with the steel version.
The 1979 issue commemorates the end of the presidency of Nicolaas Johannes Diederichs (1903 - 1978) who served as the third State President of South Africa from 1975 to 1978. |