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 3 of this journal.

1 Shilling South Africa:

Similarly to the Half Crowns & the Florin or Two Shillings, the Shilling series was minted in a similar fashion and withdrawn in the same manner. The total mintage for the entire series' including the 10 cent series from 1961 to 1964 is stated as 60,098,029 and the total number that were officially smelted up to March 1968 is documented as 52,490,500. This left a total of 7,607,529 still in circulation, which is 12.66% of the total. I, as before, shall only concentrate on the coins minted from 1923 to 1950.

The first stage of withdrawals & smeltings saw 20,884,500 coins smelted that were minted from 1923 to 1950 and the second stage saw approximately 5,020,815 coins smelted for the same mintage period. This comes to a total of 25,905,315 coins smelted out of a total of 27,093,339 Shillings minted from 1923 to 1950 leaving approximately 1,188,024 Shillings left in circulation as at March 1968. This equates to 4.38% of the total mintage.

My research indicates that there are less than 150,000 of these coins left in circulation today (0.55% of the total mintage) & less than 20,000 of these remaining coins are estimated to be in uncirculated condition. As with the 2 higher denominations, 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. NGC & PCGS population statistics for this denomination from 1923 to 1936 show a total of 281 coins graded of which only 182 coins are in Mint State. The bulk of the mint state coins are concentrated in 7 of the 12 years which makes the 5 remaining years massive rarities (151 coins vs 31 coins). This series is in my opinion, the second rarest series of South African coins to date! One also cannot ignore the GEOVI years from 1944 to 1948 which according to the population statistics show only 28 coins graded in Mint State. Furthermore only 1 of these is for the year 1946 & zero exist in mint state currently for the year 1944!!

Sixpence South Africa:

The total mintage for the entire Sixpence series' including the 5 cent series from 1961 to 1964 is stated as 73,437,354 and the total number that were officially smelted up to March 1968 is documented as 51,047,380. This left a total of 22,389,974 still in circulation, which is 30.49% of the total. I, as before, shall only concentrate on the coins minted from 1923 to 1950.

The first stage of withdrawals & smeltings saw 10,535,380 coins smelted that were minted from 1923 to 1950 and the second stage saw approximately 18,715,325 coins smelted for the same mintage period. This comes to a total of 29,250,705 coins smelted out of a total of 34,579,114 Sixpences minted from 1923 to 1950 leaving approximately 5,328,409 Sixpences left in circulation as at March 1968. This equates to 15.41% of the total mintage.

The series from 1923 to 1936 (GEOV) should be considered as being exceedingly rare in uncirculated grades. NGC & PCGS population statistics for this denomination from 1923 to 1936 show a total of 268 coins graded of which only 133 coins are in Mint State. Other than the most obvious rarity 1931, the following years are, in my opinion exceedingly rare: 1923,1926,1929,1930 & 1935 which collectively only make up 25 mint state coins out of the 133 total.

In conclusion it is quite clear that the King George V series of South African coins are all rare in uncirculated grades & certain of these coins are still being offered at prices which are well within reach of many collectors, but it is unlikely that these prices will be around for very much longer.

Cheers

Alex