South Africa 1952 Silver 5 Shillings | Van Riebeeck Tercentenary | George VI | Extremely Fine

South Africa 1952 Silver 5 Shillings | Van Riebeeck Tercentenary | George VI | Extremely Fine

In 1952 South Africa looked back three hundred years, and chose to remember a ship.

On 6 April 1652 Jan van Riebeeck arrived at Table Bay aboard the Drommedaris, leading a Dutch East India Company (VOC) expedition to establish a refreshment station for passing ships. The station became the foundation of colonial Cape Town, with lasting consequences for the Khoekhoe and San peoples already living at the Cape. For the tercentenary in 1952, the Union of South Africa issued a silver five-shilling crown with a new reverse designed by Marion Walgate, showing the ship arriving beneath Table Mountain. The design was used for that single year. The obverse carries Thomas Humphrey Paget's portrait of George VI, who died in February of the same year.

A crown-sized coin in .500 silver, struck at the South African Mint in Pretoria. The obverse shows the bare-headed portrait of George VI facing left, within the legend GEORGIVS SEXTVS REX, with Paget's initials HP below the truncation. The reverse shows the three-masted Drommedaris under full sail entering Table Bay, with Table Mountain along the horizon, the VOC monogram to the right and Walgate's initials MW to the lower left. The legend reads SUID-AFRIKA · 1652-1952 · SOUTH AFRICA, with the denomination 5s between rosettes below. The edge is milled.

Extremely Fine, by our own assessment; the coin has not been independently graded. The hair above and behind the ear keeps its strand detail and the ear is crisp; on the reverse the rigging, sail folds and hull planking are clearly defined. There are scattered dark toning spots on both sides, including a small dark spot near the second A of AFRICA, a few light contact marks to the cheek and jaw, and small knocks to the rim.

Key Details

• Country: Union of South Africa
• Denomination: 5 Shillings (crown)
• Date: 1952
• Mint: South African Mint, Pretoria
• Occasion: 300th anniversary of Jan van Riebeeck's landing at the Cape
• Designers: Thomas Humphrey Paget (obverse); Marion Walgate (reverse)
• Metal: .500 silver (50% silver, 50% copper)
• Weight: 28.28 g standard for the issue (14.14 g pure silver)
• Diameter: 38.6 mm standard for the issue
• Edge: milled
• Catalogue reference: KM 41
• Grade: Extremely Fine (dealer-assessed; not independently graded)
• Condition: scattered dark toning spots; light contact marks to the portrait; small rim knocks
• Buyer profile: collectors of South African and Commonwealth coins, readers of Cape history, and anyone looking for a meaningful South African gift

Collector Appeal

The 1952 crown stands apart in South African coinage as a one-year commemorative design, placing the Drommedaris and Table Mountain where the springbok usually stood. It also belongs to the final year of George VI's coinage. This example keeps clear detail in the portrait and in the ship's rigging, the areas where wear first shows on this design.

Every commemoration chooses what to remember; a coin keeps that choice long after the occasion has passed.