Wildebeest on 2c and R5

[GROOVIE COINS 18]

Hi all

I've been looking at designs that have been continued over denominations and series, blue crane on 5 cent, sparrows on farthing and cents, proteas on 6d and 2halfcent.

I've always assumed the wildebeest on the 2 cent from the second decimal series and and current R5 were the exact same design, but only recently held the two coins side by side to study them.

Here I have a uncirculated 1976 2c along side a about unc R5:

I have to say the 2 cent is unmatched in terms of detail.  The folds in the neck and facial features, the hair of the animal have all been lost with the new design. Even the muscular texture of the animal's body is well defined compared to the flat details of the R5.

Arthur Sutherland missed the mark on this transfer, they should have kept the original JVZ (which I'm assuming stands for Van Zyl) design.

[Pierre_Henri 92]

On 3/7/2019 at 10:15 AM, GROOVIE MOVIES said:

Hi all

I've been looking at designs that have been continued over denominations and series, blue crane on 5 cent, sparrows on farthing and cents, proteas on 6d and 2halfcent.

I've always assumed the wildebeest on the 2 cent from the second decimal series and and current R5 were the exact same design, but only recently held the two coins side by side to study them.

Here I have a uncirculated 1976 2c along side a about unc R5:

I have to say the 2 cent is unmatched in terms of detail.  The folds in the neck and facial features, the hair of the animal have all been lost with the new design. Even the muscular texture of the animal's body is well defined compared to the flat details of the R5.

Arthur Sutherland missed the mark on this transfer, they should have kept the original JVZ (which I'm assuming stands for Van Zyl) design.

In his book "History of the Nickel Coins of South Africa" (2013), Professor Francois Malan makes various references to the Wildebeest design and why the animal was chosen for the second decimal series.

Here are some pictures from his book - it was difficult to scan because of the tight binding of the spine.

 

Edited March 9, 2019 by Pierre_Henri
spelling

[GROOVIE COINS 18]

Very informative, thanks Pierre.

So if the painter was Jan Van Zyl, it's his initials that appear on the coin and not those of the die sinker/engraver as I thought. Would you by any chance have a photo of the painting he did that the springbok on the old rand is modelled after? I would be interested to see. When you so familiar with an image on a coin, it becomes almost strange to see a painting or picture that predates the coin by years. 

The 2 cent design is spot on with regards to the original painting, right down to the snout and facial features of the animal.

regards Robert

[GROOVIE COINS 18]

Or to put it another way, the designer and engraver was not the same person as I thought.

[Pierre_Henri 92]

3 hours ago, GROOVIE MOVIES said:

Very informative, thanks Pierre.

So if the painter was Jan Van Zyl, it's his initials that appear on the coin and not those of the die sinker/engraver as I thought. Would you by any chance have a photo of the painting he did that the springbok on the old rand is modelled after? I would be interested to see. When you so familiar with an image on a coin, it becomes almost strange to see a painting or picture that predates the coin by years. 

The 2 cent design is spot on with regards to the original painting, right down to the snout and facial features of the animal.

regards Robert

[GROOVIE COINS 18]

The engraver outdid himself. I see it looks like the painting depicts a female springbok, so those error or pregnant rands are spot on!

[Cold Sea 6]

It seems that it was changed to a male Springbok on the R1 coins. On the male/female topic, I can think of only one SA coin depicting a woman other than the Queen, and that was a Protea commemorative series coin celebrating women in general. I for one do not agree with politicians and heads of state on circulation coins. I think it is a form of propaganda which must rather be celebrated on the commemorative coins.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Cold Sea

[Pierre_Henri 92]

5 hours ago, Cold Sea said:

It seems that it was changed to a male Springbok on the R1 coins. On the male/female topic, I can think of only one SA coin depicting a woman other than the Queen, and that was a Protea commemorative series coin celebrating women in general. I for one do not agree with politicians and heads of state on circulation coins. I think it is a form of propaganda which must rather be celebrated on the commemorative coins.

The coin you mention celebrating women was actually  voted the most beautiful coin in 1997 by an international panel

However, there was another one depicting a woman (as an example) issued in 2010 of the South African Nobel Prize Winner for Literature,  Nadine Gordimer, but she looks like a Neanderthal - a truly ugly effigy.

 

[Cold Sea 6]

Below is a poor copy of the design published in the Government Gazette. This one looks a bit more lifelike than the actual coin.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Cold Sea

[Pierre_Henri 92]

9 hours ago, Cold Sea said:

Below is a poor copy of the design published in the Government Gazette. This one looks a bit more lifelike than the actual coin.

 

 

I totally agree - she looks much more attractive ...