This beautiful coin was created and launched on the 18th of July 2008 in commemoration of Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday.
Madiba who turned an amazing 90 was at the launch and made use of the manual press to make his own coin, afterwards remarking “Well, I’m a bit richer today !”
Finance Minister at the time, Trevor Manuel congratulated him saying “It’s a celebration of your birthday, but also a celebration of South Africans wanting to share your love, experience and leadership. We want to see it in circulation.”
Only 5 million coins were minted for circulation, but since the launch my personal experience is that I have not seen a single coin in circulation. Only 2 members of my personal friends and family I have spoken to have managed to get their hands on one or two coins, which they treasure and have put away for safe-keeping.
With a population of almost 50 million in South Africa, it means that only 1 out of every 10 people would have the honour of having a precious piece of Madiba Magic (and that would be in ideal cicumstances where each person only had one coin) !
Realistically though, everyone is scrambling to get as many coins as possible, and because of the fact that Nelson Mandela has become an icon world-wide, fans and collectors all over the world are getting their hands on as many coins as possible as well !
So while the value of the Rand fluctuates from day to day (now even more under the strain of the current world-wide economical crisis), the value of Madiba's Magical 2008 Birthday R5 Coin grows from strength to strength, ranging from coins graded as MS-65 selling for around R 750.00 to some coins graded as high as MS-68, and selling for a wopping R 100,000.00 each !
Now you can get your piece of the pie, in fact, 10 pieces ! Share them with your friends and family, or like everyone else is doing, hoard them greedily for yourself or grade them, and watch them grow in value !
This auction is for 10 x 2008 Birthday R5 Coins, each sealed in their own zip-lock bag. Your bid is for all 10 coins.
Specifications:
| Mass | 9.5g |
| Diameter | 26mm |
| Thickness | 2.8mm |
| Front of Coin | Nelson Mandela |
| Back of Coin | South African coat of arms |
| Metals used | Brass-plated steel centers with nickel-plated copper rings |
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