True or False? Two types of non-proof Crowns (5/- coins) were issued in 1957 for the Union of South Africa?

[Pierre_Henri 117]

True or False?

 

[GROOVIE COINS 20]

Without checking I'd say false, but on the chance that it might be true let me throw in a guess. South - Africa, vs South Africa variety? Perhaps the 5S vs 5s? I've seen a change in size in the D on penny varieties, though I can't put my finger on which specific year.

regards Robert

[Pierre_Henri 117]

1 hour ago, GROOVIE MOVIES said:

Without checking I'd say false, but on the chance that it might be true let me throw in a guess. South - Africa, vs South Africa variety? Perhaps the 5S vs 5s? I've seen a change in size in the D on penny varieties, though I can't put my finger on which specific year.

regards Robert

Twee fotos - sien onder 

.

[GROOVIE COINS 20]

2 April 1968, Slaan my om!

Very insightful... I don't think I've even paid attention to the language switch around on the crowns. I found the part about the debased coinage also very interesting, especially the thin layer of fine silver part, which explains why 50% silver coins look so horrible when they see a bit of wear. As for the difference grooves, I'll definately have to compare a 58 to 52 to see if I can notice the difference. I wonder if the grading companies have ever noted a 57 variety when slabbing....

regards Robert

[GROOVIE COINS 20]

True or False? There is a security feature below the right hind leg of the springbok on the krugerrand.

[Pierre_Henri 117]

I am not sure?

It would be very interesting to know the answer because there are some false Krugerrands doing the rounds.

I have heard the story 25 years ago that in India, a man perfected a way to tunnel into a Krugerrand with a dentist drill - took most of the gold out, and inserted some lead - he got the weight almost right but got caught out in the end - fascinating!

But I would say that 99.99% of Krugerrands are the real thing - please tell us about the security feature (if there is one!)

[GROOVIE COINS 20]

4 hours ago, Pierre_Henri said:

I am not sure?

It would be very interesting to know the answer because there are some false Krugerrands doing the rounds.

I have heard the story 25 years ago that in India, a man perfected a way to tunnel into a Krugerrand with a dentist drill - took most of the gold out, and inserted some lead - he got the weight almost right but got caught out in the end - fascinating!

But I would say that 99.99% of Krugerrands are the real thing - please tell us about the security feature (if there is one!)

True, though I'm not sure about the gold coin, the new 2018 silver bullion coin has the word krugerrand in the mountains behind the right leg. To tell you the truth, I can barely make it out with my magnifying glass, so you need a very high magnifying jewellers loupe. The 2017 silver coin doesn't have it...

[Cold Sea 8]

Below is an extract of a piece where the treatment of the silver and gold coins were discussed. The question referred to was why the gold blanks were annealed in sealed wrought-iron tubes, while silver blanks were annealed in open grooved cast-iron trays, necessitating subsequent treatment with acid. We can see this was done with the 800 fine silver coinage as well.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Cold Sea

[dcdoberman 4]

Annealing gold can be done by aircooling then dipping, gold coins are also .916 so much less copper than .800 silver coins. When silver is annealed the copper rises and this top layer is removed when dipping in a sodium bisulfate liquid (annealing) this removes the copper which has risen to surface. The coin now has a very pure silver layer on surface. When the British switched to .500 they lengthened the process to deepen the effect , but when SA switched to .500 I believe they just plated the coins .

[Cold Sea 8]

In the article that Pierre posted it mentions using acid treatment to form the purer outer silver layer on the 500 silver coins. I understand this to mean the same process as the British used, the "lengthened process". It would be interesting to know for sure if any of the circulating coins were electroplated.

[GROOVIE COINS 20]

On 11/1/2018 at 4:56 PM, Pierre_Henri said:

I am not sure?

It would be very interesting to know the answer because there are some false Krugerrands doing the rounds.

I have heard the story 25 years ago that in India, a man perfected a way to tunnel into a Krugerrand with a dentist drill - took most of the gold out, and inserted some lead - he got the weight almost right but got caught out in the end - fascinating!

But I would say that 99.99% of Krugerrands are the real thing - please tell us about the security feature (if there is one!)

As mentioned, I'm not sure about the gold coin, but below is a blow up of a 2018 silver krugerrand:

[Pierre_Henri 117]

7 hours ago, GROOVIE MOVIES said:

As mentioned, I'm not sure about the gold coin, but below is a blow up of a 2018 silver krugerrand:

Amazing - is that word KRUGERRAND?

If so, It must surely be the tiniest letters I have ever seen on a coin...

[GROOVIE COINS 20]

1 hour ago, Pierre_Henri said:

Amazing - is that word KRUGERRAND?

If so, It must surely be the tiniest letters I have ever seen on a coin...

Yes it's incredibly tiny and can't be seen with the naked eye. I don't know how detail so small can be transfered from a die during minting. Laser etching might be an answer, but the words don't look as if they were etched. Also I can't think it would be economical to laser normal silver bullion coins. The privy mark of the 2017 krugers were lasered and I think it added to the high end price.  

[GROOVIE COINS 20]

On 11/12/2018 at 6:01 PM, Pierre_Henri said:

Amazing - is that word KRUGERRAND?

If so, It must surely be the tiniest letters I have ever seen on a coin...

If you think that was tiny, try this on for size.

Came across the tip while while surfing the net. I can't actually make out what it says from the picture, but there's definitely something there. I'll try and put a macro lens on it later tonight.