Silver Crown 2015 Steam Trains, Coin from South Africa - detailed information

South Africa pioneered modern bullion coinage when it first issued the Krugerrand on 3 July 1967 to help market South African gold; it is the first modern bullion coin and is still issued today.

Gradually, the South African Mint started diversifying the range, first by issuing fractional Krugerrands, then by introducing different designs and metals, such as a silver one-ounce (1 oz) format. These include silver 1 oz Krugerrands, the Protea series, the Natura series, as well as one-year types that do not fall into a particular series. Some are made of Sterling silver (92.5%) alloyed with copper, just like the British pre-decimal Crown coins, and some are 99.9% silver. The Sterling versions are overall heavier though, so they also contain exactly one ounce of pure silver or 1oz Absolute Silver Weight (1.000 oz ASW); they are called "Crowns" in the "Crown and Tickey" coin sets in which some of them are issued, and are officially denominated as two, five or ten Rands.

This coin, denominated as Two Rands (R 2) is part of the Crown and Tickey series of South African coins issued with different themes every year by the South African Mint to celebrate South Africa’s history and achievements.

The R2 Crown and Tickey were first introduced in 1997. Between 2012 and 2015, the theme was “Trains of South Africa”. In 2012, the first of the trains to be portrayed was the Gautrain, followed by the diesel electric locomotives in 2013 and the electric locomotives and trains in 2014. The steam-powered locomotives are featured on the 2015 coins.

The first completed track for a steam-powered locomotive was built by the Natal Railway Company between the city (then town) of Durban and Harbour Point. The official opening took place on 26 June 1860, with the first steam train journey in South Africa taking about 5 minutes to cover the modest distance of 3.2 km. This short journey was the beginning of the construction of a widespread South African railway service which was largely completed by 1910.

The class 15F steam locomotive is featured on the sterling silver R2 Crown. The class 15 was introduced by Chief Mechanical Engineer Hendrie in 1914 and formed part of the South African Railways’ (SAR) large mixed traffic locomotives for use on main lines. The class 15 became the best known and most successful of the main line locomotive types, with no less than 563 engines being supplied to SAR over a period of 34 years.