Not many collectors are fully aware of how many of the coins in this series were smelted 40+ years ago! If they did know many of these coins would be priceless. Read on for Part 2 of this journal.

Half Crowns(2.5 Shillings) South Africa:

The Half Crown or 2.5 Shillings were minted in three series'. The first from 1923 to 1936 (King George V), the second from 1937 to 1952 (King George V), & the third from 1953 to 1960 (Queen Elizabeth II). The total mintage for the entire series' is stated as 43,016,029 and the total number that were officially smelted up to March 1968 is documented as 29,505,601. This left a total of 13,510,428 still in circulation, which is 31.40% of the total. I shall only concentrate on the coins minted from 1923 to 1950 in this journal & subsequent journals on this topic.

The first stage of withdrawals & smeltings saw 10,459,201 coins smelted that were minted from 1923 to 1950 and the second stage saw approximately 9,685,673 coins for the same mintage period. This comes to a total of 20,144,874 coins smelted out of a total of 22,681,995 Half Crowns minted from 1923 to 1950 leaving approximately 2,537,121 half crowns left in circulation as at March 1968. This equates to 11.19% of the total mintage.

My research indicates that there are less than 350,000 of these coins left in circulation today (1.54% of the total mintage) & less than 35,000 of these remaining coins are estimated to be in uncirculated condition. The series from 1923 to 1936 (GEOV) should be considered as being exceedingly rare in uncirculated grades with certain years almost impossible to find in uncirculated grades. It comes as no surprise that there are only 114 coins out of this series graded in Mint State for both the NGC & PCGS grading services. There are undoubtedly several coins that are as yet not being sent for grading but their numbers are miniscule in comparison to the numbers perceived by many collectors & numismatists the world over. In my opinion the GEOV series of Half Crowns is far more rare than its ZAR counterpart as a series and should command much higher prices in the near future.

Florins (2 Shillings)South Africa:

Similarly to the Half Crowns, the Florin or Two Shillings were minted in the same series' and withdrawn in the same manner. The total mintage for the entire series' including the 20 cent series from 1961 to 1964 is stated as 64,774,494 and the total number that were officially smelted up to March 1968 is documented as 56,514,500. This left a total of 8,259,994 still in circulation, which is 12.75% of the total. I, as before, shall only concentrate on the coins minted from 1923 to 1950 in this journal & subsequent journals on this topic.

The first stage of withdrawals & smeltings saw 17,852,500 coins smelted that were minted from 1923 to 1950 and the second stage saw approximately 3,612,269 coins for the same mintage period. This comes to a total of 21,464,769 coins smelted out of a total of 22,236,809 Florins/ Two Shillings minted from 1923 to 1950 leaving approximately 772,040 Florins/ Two Shillings left in circulation as at March 1968. This equates to 3.47% of the total mintage.

My research indicates that there are less than 50,000 of these coins left in circulation today (0.23% of the total mintage) & less than 7,000 of these remaining coins are estimated to be in uncirculated condition. As with the half crowns, the series from 1923 to 1936 (GEOV) should be considered as being exceedingly rare in uncirculated grades with certain years almost impossible to find in uncirculated grades. Populations statistics for this denomination from 1923 to 1936 show 104 coins in Mint State & I doubt very much this figure will ever reach more than 250, making this, in my opinion, the rarest series of South African coins to date!

More to follow on the other denominations soon.

Cheers

Alex