The Rand currency was introduced in the then Union of South Africa on 14 February 1961, shortly before the establishment of the Republic on 31 May 1961. The One Rand coin was initially a gold bullion coin equal to the earlier gold half pound, which was itself equal to a British half sovereign (minted, among others, at the Pretoria branch of the Royal Mint - now the South African Mint, until 1932).
Silver One Rand coins started to be issued for regular circulation in 1965. This was then changed to nickel in 1977, with silver only used for commemorative and collector issues. In 1990 the nickel coin was made much smaller due to its value being much lower than before owing to inflation. The silver commemorative Rand was discontinued in this format; in 1991, the Protea One Rand (non-circulating legal tender) was introduced instead, with different composition.
This commemorative One Rand silver coin marks the 150th anniversary of the Great Trek.
The Great Trek (Afrikaans: Die Groot Trek; Dutch: De Grote Trek), starting in 1836 in southern Africa, was a mass migration of Dutch-speaking inhabitants of the British-run Cape Colony, who left the Cape and travelled eastward by wagon train, into the interior of the continent, in order to live beyond the reach of the British colonial administration. Both the Cape Colony and the area newly settled by the migrants later became part of what is today the country of South Africa. The Great Trek was spurred by rising tensions between rural descendants of the Cape's original, mostly Dutch, European settlers, known collectively as Boers, and the later, mostly British, settlers, who had taken control of the Cape on behalf of the British Empire. It was also spurred by an increasing yearning among members of the various Boer communities to live in a more isolationist, semi-nomadic way than had become possible in Cape Town, which was becoming much more administratively complex under British management. Boers who took part in the Great Trek identified themselves as voortrekkers, meaning "pioneers" or "pathfinders" (literally "fore-trekkers") in Dutch and Afrikaans.
The Great Trek led directly to the founding of several autonomous Boer republics, namely the South African Republic (also known simply as the Transvaal), the Orange Free State, and the Natalia Republic. It was also responsible for the displacement of the Northern Ndebele people, and was one of several decisive factors influencing the decline and collapse of the Zulu Kingdom. |
| Obverse | |
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The obverse of the coin displays the Coat of Arms of South Africa at its centre, as granted to the Union of South Africa by King George V and later amended by the British College of Arms. It contains representation of the four provinces within the Union.
The Coat of Arms features a shield quartered, each quarter a symbol of one of the four provinces of South Africa. An ox wagon represents Transvaal Province, a woman with an anchor represents Cape Province, two wildebeests represent Natal Province and an orange tree represents the Orange Free State Province. The crest of the arms features a lion holding four bound sticks. The supporters are a springbok and a gemsbok. Below the arms, the Latin motto, EX UNITATE VIRES (translated at first as "Union Is Strength", but from 1961 translated as "Unity Is Strength").
Around left, the name of the country in Afrikaans: SUID-AFRIKA; around right, the name in English: SOUTH AFRICA.
Below, the date of issue: * 1988 *.
Below the Coat of Arms on the left side, in small letters the initials of the designer ALS (for Arthur Sutherland). |
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| Reverse | |
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There reverse of the coin features a wagon wheel from which three arrows show forward movement, adapted from a design commissioned by the Afrikaner cultural organisation, the F.A.K.
Around above, the inscription in Afrikaans GROOT TREK (Great Trek). To the right of the wheel, on two lines the anniversary dates 1838 and 1988.
Around below, EEN RAND ONE (the value and denomination, Een Rand in Afrikaans and, mirror-like, One Rand in English). |
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