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Zimbabwe-Rhodesia 50 cent pattern of 1980

Started by <k>, May 29, 2010, 03:02:35 AM

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<k>









Zimbabwe-Rhodesia 50 Cents 1980.jpg


There is currently an auction on Veilingen that includes various pieces.

One of the pieces is this 50 cent pattern, dated 1980.

It was intended for the short-lived state of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

It depicts a fish.


From Wikipedia:

The Republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, was an unrecognized  state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 12 December 1979. Zimbabwe Rhodesia was preceded by the unrecognized Republic of Rhodesia and was briefly followed by the re-established British colony of Southern Rhodesia, which according to British constitutional theory had remained the proper government after UDI in 1965. About three months later, the re-established colony of Southern Rhodesia was granted independence as the Republic of Zimbabwe.

An 'Internal Settlement' between the Smith administration of the Republic of Rhodesia and moderate African nationalist parties not involved in the Rhodesian Bush War led to the end of white minority government and the birth of biracial rule in Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Figleaf

A very interesting pattern. Amazing that they kept the "bird statue" (you'd think it was too much "Smith"), but not the fish. Elegant design.

I went through the rest of the auction catalogue. Really first class stuff (Afrasi, check out the tokens!) but the cheap ones are way too expensive and the expensive ones beyond my budget.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Afrasi

#2
I got the catalogue yesterday. There were lots of coins and tokens of my interest in this auction, but I share Peter's opinion about the prices. I have to work hard for my hobby. But if the collection of Ton Jacobs would be presented to me, I would not say: "No!"  ;D

The design with the trout remembers me to the famous Troutbeck Inn in the Eastern Highlands. But I am not sure if it still exists in these days. There are not many places in sub-tropical Zimbabwe to find trouts, so I find the design a little bit strange and it's clearly from Rhodies view.

Also strange: The catalogue repeats an everlasting mistake of KM. Kayes belongs to Mali and not to Senegal.

Harald

Since the state (not republic!) of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia has only existed for 10 months, including a 4 months restoration of colonial rule,
I guess the "pattern" is a posthumous product. Any idea where it comes from?


cheers
--
Harald
http://www.liganda.ch (monetary history & numismatic linguistics)

Figleaf

Quote from: Afrasi on May 30, 2010, 01:03:53 PM
The design with the trout remembers me to the famous Troutbeck Inn in the Eastern Highlands. But I am not sure if it still exists in these days.

It seems to be still around: "fresh air and lots of outdoor activities are the order of the day. You have a choice of, amongst others, golf, volley ball, boating, horse riding and scenic walks and trails among the rivers, waterfalls and gorges in the surrounding mountains, which are overshadowed by the Inyangani Mountain, the highest peak in Zimbabwe." I can think of worse places. ;)

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

<k>

Quote from: Harald on May 30, 2010, 02:01:27 PM
Since the state (not republic!) of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia has only existed for 10 months, including a 4 months restoration of colonial rule,
I guess the "pattern" is a posthumous product. Any idea where it comes from?

I have no idea where it comes from. One day the Royal Mint (UK) may release some info on it, if it was the source. The state of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia began and ended in 1979, so if I were producing something inauthentic that pretended to be official, I would date it 1979. However, the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia regime probably hoped or planned to exist beyond 1979, so it is possible that the pattern was official - especially given the fact that the Zimbabwe soapstone did indeed grace the obverse of the eventual official coins of Zimbabwe. Of course, that is just my (very logical, I hope) guess, and I have no actual knowledge of the source of the piece.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Afrasi

Who is the coin designer LDL?

Is Galapagos still alive? Or can anybody else help me?

<k>

#7
I used to be Galapagos in a previous life. Can you give me some context? Which coin(s) are you looking at? Country, date?

From my own collection, here is one guess:

South Africa. 1979. 2c.   President Diederichs.  Designer: Lourens de Lange.
                               Wildebeest.

Did you buy that pattern coin, Afrasi, or just look at an image of it?
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Afrasi

Quote from: Tapir on June 02, 2010, 12:13:06 AMSouth Africa. 1979. 2c.  President Diederichs. Designer: Lourens de Lange. Wildebeest.
That's it! Great! Many thanks!

I did find it on the pattern coin from Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. It looked very "South African" in style to me. So it is probably not from the Royal Mint, but from the RSA mint.

<k>

#9
On which part of the image did you see those initials, Afrasi?
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Afrasi

On both sides.
Left picture: central below the soapstone bird.
Right picture: below the Zero.

Afrasi

Quote from: Tapir on May 30, 2010, 04:15:29 PMthe Zimbabwe soapstone did indeed grace the obverse of the eventual official coins of Zimbabwe

Funny! In the description of this coin the catalogue maker of MPO speaks about a "native headdress between date". Perhaps it is very special Dutch sight of the world. People wearing wooden shoes might also wear hats of stone.  ;D

Figleaf

Krause (who is of course German) speaks of a "bird statue" in the Zimbabwe section, while Mishler (an emigrated German) says "native headdress" in the Rhodesia section. Stone hats indeed!

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Afrasi

Quote from: Figleaf on June 02, 2010, 09:03:13 AMStone hats indeed!

... or stone heads.  ;D The soap stone columns with these bird sculptures at their top were found at the ruins of Great Zimbabwe near Masvingo.

eurocoin

#14
Around 6 pieces of this pattern were minted, below you can find the auction archive of 2 pieces that have been auctioned till date:


   Piece 1:                           
                              
   Date      Auctioneer      Estimate      Price realised      Remark   
                               
   September 2005      DNW Auctions      400-600 GBP      450 GBP      Fingerprints   
   September 2013      Baldwin's Auctions      400-600 GBP      420 GBP      Fingerprints   
                              
   Piece 2:                           
                              
   Date      Auctioneer      Starting price      Price realised      Remark   
                              
   May 2010      MPO Auctions      2000 EUR      Unsold         
   May 2019      MPO Auctions      300 EUR      1200 EUR         


There also exists another extremely rare set of pattern coins of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia dated 1980 that was auctioned by Christie's in London in 2001 (see here). The set has the same design on the obverse as the pattern above, the reverse of the 1 and 2 cents in this set depicts a laurel wreath, the 5 cents depicts a Rhodesian Parrot Bird, the 10 cents depicts a dessert tree, the 20 cents depicts a Disa flower, the 50 cents depicts the Victoria Falls and the 1 dollar coin depicts ruins. I have never seen these designs but I assume that some of the coins in this pattern set may have the same design as on the coins that were issued for Zimbabwe in 1980.