Owner Comments:
Joint Finest Known FR designation! (1/10)
BLUE NGC FR Label with black insert.
Total Graded: 12
Mintage: 157
This coin was issued as part of the 2019 Protea - Life of a Legend coin series, which concludes a series of commemorative coins started in 2013.
The South African Mint says about the series:
"The year 2019 celebrates the 25th year of a free and democratic South Africa, and so it is fitting that the legacy left by the first democratically elected President of South Africa is depicted as a conclusion to the series. The Life of a Legend - Nelson Mandela Protea series was introduced in 2013, representing a different chapter of Former South African President, Nelson Mandela’s life on each year’s coin issue.
South Africa’s first democratically elected president served only one term in power from 10 May 1994 to 14 June 1999. He, however, remained active even after his term, seeking peace and social justice in South Africa and around the world. His date of birth, 18 July, was declared ‘Nelson Mandela International Day’ by the United Nations in recognition of his contributions to democracy, freedom, peace and human rights around the world.
On this day, everyone in the world is encouraged to harness their ability to have a positive effect on their community and remember and live the values embraced by Nelson Mandela, which include democracy, freedom, equality, diversity, reconciliation, and respect."
This coin celebrates the year that Nelson Mandela was elected as the first black president of a free and democratic South Africa. The heart of the reverse design features a silhouetted profile of Nelson Mandela with a portrait of him holding his grandchild in the background within the silhouette, which is surrounded by an ornamental paisley pattern inspired by the shirts he loved to wear. The design repeats the main elements of the R25 coin of the series.
A quotation, The spirit of Ubuntu - that profound African sense that we are human only through the humanity of other human beings., appears along the outer edge of the coin. Overlaid on the decorative pattern around below right, Nelson Mandela.
The value and denomination R1 (One Rand) are below right.
The obverse, common for all coins of the series in 2019, 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 2019 divided by the portrait.
Above Mandela's shoulder, the initials of the die-sinker VLC (for VL Chipa); the design is by L. Guerra.
Around above, the legend SOUTH AFRICA.