60 Years of Ghana's Coinage: From Shillings to Cedis, New Cedis, and now Ghana Cedis
1967 Proof Set: Half Pesewa

Owner Comments:

Kwame Nkrumah was deposed in a military coup in 1966. The new military government replaced the July 1965 coinage with the "New Cedi" in February of 1967, at the rate of 1 New Cedi = 1.2 original Cedis. Nkrumah's portrait was removed. The New Cedi, a.k.a. the Second Cedi, known simply as the Cedi by the mid-70's, remained in circulation until the currency reform of July 2007.

In 1967 the Bank of Ghana issued its second official Proof Set, which showcased six examples of the New Cedi series. Only 100 sets were issued. In 2011 I was lucky enough to purchase a complete set, raw and in its original box, for $99.95. NGC graded out the coins between PF64 and PF66. No other examples of these proofs were in the NGC Census when I first posted this set, and when I checked the PCGS census 5 of the 6 coins in this set are either "top pop" or "none finer." The previous owner(s) took great care of this set!

On the obverse of this coin is a set of traditional Adowa Drums. The main design element on the reverse is a star - just as on the 1958 coins.

The Half Pesewa shown here is part of the raw set I purchased in 2011. The PCGS census currently shows one example at PF64 Red, and none higher.