2016-01-14 Thu

The Griquatown R5 coin, released by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on January 12 2016, commemorates the 200th year of the country’s first coinage. Griekwastad, or Griquatown in English, is one of South Africa’s most important foundation towns and was a stopover on the trade route. The town is known for the abundant semi-precious stones found there.

According to SARB, Griqua currency was adopted ad the first currency of South Africa. It was also the country’s first decimal coinage along with being the world’s first Christian Missionary coinage.

The obverse of the commemorative coin showcases an image of the original 1815 Griquatown coin with the inscription ‘Coinage of Griquatown 200. 1815-2015’ while the reverse bears the South African Coat of Arms along with the acronym ‘SARB’. The coin is bimetallic and has a serrated edge with micro-lettering. It is legal tender in South Africa and will be circulated. SARB has also issued non-circulating silver R2 crowns and R2 gold coins which will be available as a set along with the circulating coin as a numismatic collector’s set.