Owner Comments:
Joint Finest Known! (1/6)
Nelson Mandela NGC Label.
Total Graded: 50
Mintage: 215
This coin was issued as part of the 2015 Protea - Life of a Legend (Early Years in Johannesburg) coin series, which continues a series of commemorative coins, "The life of a legend: Nelson Mandela". Introduced in 2013, a different chapter of Mr Mandela’s life is portrayed annually (his childhood in 2013, his education years in 2014 and his arrival and early years in Johannesburg in 2015).
The 2015 sterling-silver R1 Protea coin symbolizes Nelson Mandela’s personal growth and transformation from an inexperienced youth who had run away from his privileged home with the royal family of the Thembu people to seek his fortune in the City of Gold to a young man who came to rely on his inner strength and abilities.
The One Rand 2015 Protea coin features a portrait of Nelson Mandela as a young man, with his silhouette as an older man in the background. Vertically in the background, the names of some of his friends during the years when he lived in Johannesburg.
The face value and denomination R 1 (One Rand) are below. Under the R of the denomination, in small letters the initials of the reverse die-sinker (engraver) PB (for Paul Botes); the design is by Lilian Guerra.
The obverse, common for all coins of the series, features Mr Mandela wearing one of his iconic Madiba shirts, underlined by a wreath made from South Africa’s national flower, the King Protea, and the date of issue 2015 divided by the portrait.
Above Mandela's shoulder, the initials of the die-sinker VLC (for VL Chipa); the design is by Lilian Guerra.
Around above, the legend SOUTH AFRICA.