Owner Comments:
Joint 3rd Finest Known PFUC. (1/13)
In Higher Grades: 3
Total Graded: 87
Mintage: 9,640
This commemorative One Rand silver coin marks the 500th anniversary of the voyage of Bartolomeu Dias to South Africa.
Bartolomeu Dias (anglicised: Bartholomew Diaz; c. 1450 - 1500), a nobleman of the Portuguese royal household, was a Portuguese explorer. He sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488, the first European to do so, setting up the route from Europe to Asia later on. Dias is the first European during the Age of Discovery to anchor at what is present-day South Africa.
Obverse
The obverse of the coin displays the Coat of Arms of South Africa at its centre, as granted to the Union of South Africa by King George V and later amended by the British College of Arms. It contains representation of the four provinces within the Union.
The Coat of Arms features a shield quartered, each quarter a symbol of one of the four provinces of South Africa. An ox wagon represents Transvaal Province, a woman with an anchor represents Cape Province, two wildebeests represent Natal Province and an orange tree represents the Orange Free State Province. The crest of the arms features a lion holding four bound sticks. The supporters are a springbok and a gemsbok. Below the arms, the Latin motto, EX UNITATE VIRES (translated at first as "Union Is Strength", but from 1961 translated as "Unity Is Strength").
Around left, the name of the country in Afrikaans: SUID-AFRIKA; around right, the name in English: SOUTH AFRICA.
Below, the date of issue: * 1988 *.
Below the Coat of Arms on the left side, in small letters the initials of the designer ALS (for Arthur Sutherland).
Reverse
The reverse of the coin shows a map of Africa and parts of Europe, with a "compass rose" to the left, and a small sailing ship - representing the caravel "São Cristóvão" (Saint Christopher) of Bartolomeu Dias.
Below the caravel in small letters, the designer's initials SE (for Susan Erasmus).
Around above, the inscription 1488 DIAS 1988.
Around below, EEN RAND ONE (the value and denomination, Een Rand in Afrikaans and, mirror-like, One Rand in English).