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

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

Three centuries after the Drommedaris dropped anchor, the Mint put her back under sail.

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.

Very Fine to Extremely Fine, by our own assessment; the coin has not been independently graded. The hair keeps much of its strand detail and the ear remains well defined; on the reverse the ship and the outline of Table Mountain read clearly. Both sides carry an even grey tone. There is a thin scratch on the reverse running from the rim near the date 1652 down into the masts, and another small scratch near the D of SUID. There are a few dark spots on the cheek and behind the ear, and a small knock to the reverse 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: Very Fine to Extremely Fine (dealer-assessed; not independently graded)
• Condition: even grey toning; thin scratch to the reverse through the masts; small scratch near SUID; a few dark spots to the portrait; small rim knock
• 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 a fairly even grey tone across both sides, a quieter look than a brightly polished coin.

Silver darkens slowly and without hurry; the tone on an old coin is simply a record of the years it has kept.