Thematic sets from the 1920s to date

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1986.

Singapore replaced the Marine Series with the Floral Series in 1986.  The images below are not to scale.

See also: Coinage of Singapore.




1c.    Vanda Miss Joaquim plants.
5c.    Fruit salad plant.
10c.  Star jasmine plant.
20c.  Powder-puff plant.
50c.  Yellow allamanda plant.
$1.    Periwinkle.

Designer: Christopher Ironside.

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1987.

Uganda issued a new design series. All four coins were polygonal, and their designs reflected Uganda's agricultural produce.

See: Uganda since independence.




1   shilling.  Coffee plant, basket of coffee beans.
2   shilling.  Coffee plant, basket of coffee beans.
5   shilling.  Cotton plant, bag of cotton.
10 shilling.  Cotton plant, bag of cotton.

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1988.

The Cook Islands issued a small circulation dollar in 1987, along with a circulation 2 dollar coin (which was triangular) and a 12-sided circulation 5 dollar coin. The dollar coin depicted their mythological god of creation, Tangaroa. He/she is hermaphroditic and is portrayed clutching a pregnant belly. This design had been taken from the famous collector dollar, first seen in sets in the 1970s. In 1988 these were joined by a new turtle design for the 50 cents coin, whose denomination was now given as  "50 tene".

See also: Coinage of the Cook Islands.






50 tene.   Turtle.                     
$1.           Tangaroa. 
$2.          "Kumete", traditionally used to pound root foods,
                 such as arrowroot from the islands of Atiu.
$5.            Triton seashell.  12-sided.

Horst Hahne designed the reverse of the $2 and $5 coins, as well as that of the 50 tene.

The Tangaroa design was by James Berry.

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1988.

Ecuador issued a new design series.

Produced by the Royal Canadian Mint, it featured aspects of Ecuadorean heritage.

Most of the coins included the value in Braille.

See also: Ecuador 1988 set.





1   sucre.    Antonio José de Sucre.
5   sucres.  Bunch of bananas.
10 sucres.  Venus of Valdivia.
20 sucres.  Mitad del Mundo.
50 sucres.  An Inca mask of the sun.

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1988.

Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, issued its first modern circulation coinage.

See also:

Gibraltar 1988: adopted and unadopted designs by Alfred Ryman.

Milestones in the decimal coinage of Gibraltar




1p.    Barbary partridge.                  
2p.    Europa lighthouse.                  
5p.    Macaque monkey,  commonly known as a "Barbary ape".
10p.  Moorish Castle, with Mediaeval Tower of Homage.
20p.  Statue of "Our Lady of Europa".         
50p.  Candytuft.
£1.    Coat of arms.

All the reverse designs of 1988, including those of the £2 and £5 collector coins, were the work of local artist Alfred Ryman.

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1988.

The Isle of Man issued another design series, entitled "Technology on the Isle of Man".

See: Milestones in the decimal coinage of the Isle of Man.




1p.    A precision lathe, superimposed on a cog wheel.                 
2p.    Traditional items of local craftwork, against an outline of a Celtic stone cross.                 
5p.    A windsurfer.
10p.  A portcullis above an outline of the Isle of Man, above the globe, symbolising Douglas: the Island's financial centre.
20p.  A combined harvester.         
50p.  A personal computer displaying a triskele, the Manx three-legged emblem.
£1.    A cell phone / mobile phone.

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1989.

Argentina adopted a new currency in 1985, in which 1 austral was equal to 100 centavos. A new design series was also issued in 1985, of which the three lowest denominations depicted Argentinian wildlife. In 1989 three higher denominations were added to the set, this time portraying Argentinian national buildings.

See also: Architecture on Argentinian coins.




½  centavo.      Rufous hornero.  "Ovenbird".
1   centavo.      Rhea.
5   centavos.    Pampas cat.
1   austral.       Old Buenos Aires City Hall.
5   australes.    Independence Hall at Tucuman.
10 australes.    Casa del Acuerdo.

Designer: Ermando Bucci.

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1989.

The Dominican Republic issued a new design series.

A one centavo coin was also issued as part of the set, but it was demonetised the following year.

See: Dominican Republic: a thematic set.




1   centavo.     Taino Trigonolito.
5   centavos.   Native drummer.
10 centavos.   Fruit.
25 centavos.   Oxen pulling cart.
½  peso.         The Columbus Lighthouse.

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1989.

Malaysia issued a new design series. It depicted national cultural artefacts.

It is one of the world's few modern national coinage sets that carries no text on the reverse.

See also:

Circulation coins where one side has neither text nor numerals.

Coinage of Malaysia.




1   sen.     A Rebana Ubi drum.
5   sen.     Spinning top.
10 sen.     Congkak, a game of Malay origin for two.
20 sen.     Sirih and kapur container.
50 sen.     Wau, a ceremonial kite
1 rinngit.   Keris (ceremonial dagger) against a background of songket (a traditional patterned fabric).

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1990.

South Africa issued a new design series, retaining many familiar themes from previous series. 

The new coins were also significantly reduced in size.

See: Third Coinage of the Republic of South Africa.





1c.    Sparrows.                          
2c.    African fish eagle.      
5c.    Blue crane.                        
10c.  Arum lily.                         
20c.  King Protea.                       
50c.  Stralitzia.                        
1R.    Springbok.                   
2R.    Head of greater kudu.   
5R.    Black wildebeest.

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1991.

Greece gradually changed the designs of some of its coins from 1986 to 1991. Its decision to become part of the single currency (the euro) probably meant that any further planned changes were abandoned as unnecessary.

In 1991 Greece introduced a new circulation 100 drachmes coin. The obverse depicted Alexander the Great, whilst the reverse featured the Vergina Sun, the symbol of ancient Macedonia. The new Republic of Macedonia had become independent in 1991, and this coin was designed and issued in 1991, and then dated 1990, as though it was older than the newly founded country. This was an attempt to stop Macedonia ("FYROM") from using the Vergina Sun as the country's symbol.

See also: Pre-euro coinage of the Republic of Greece, 1976 to 2001.




1     drachme.    Lascarina Bouboulina, independence heroine.
2     drachmes.  Manto Mavrogenous, independence hero.
20   drachmes.  Dionysios Solomos: poet, and author of the lyrics of Greek national anthem.
50   drachmes.  Homer.
100 drachmes.  Alexander the Great.

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1991.

Romania threw off communism in its 1989 revolution, and by 1991 a new coinage had taken shape.

It celebrated the revolution and looked back at some of Romania's historical figures.

See also: Post-communist coinage of Romania.




1      leu.  Coat of arms.
5      lei.   Coat of arms.
10    lei.   "22 Decembrie, 1989".  Flag, olive branch.
20    lei.   Stefan Cel Mare.
50    lei.   Alexandru Ioan Cuza.
100  lei.   Mihai Viteazul.

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1992.

Algeria issued a new design series. Unusually for a North African or Arab state, the designs were thematic and featured wildlife. It was no ordinary wildlife set, for the designs showed great artistic flair and a highly original style, as they were married with calligraphy, numerals and patterns taken from various eras in Algerian history. Unfortunately the relief is rather low in some cases, and not all the coins are well struck. However, it is a superb set, highly original in style.

See also: Algeria animal coin series of 1992.




¼    dinar.   Fennec fox.
½    dinar.   Berber horse.
1     dinar.   Water buffalo.
2     dinars.  Dromedary.
5     dinars.  Elephant.
10   dinars.  Desert falcon.
20   dinars.  Atlas lion.
50   dinars.  Dama gazelle.
100 dinars.  Horse.

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1992.

Brazil released some higher value denominations in 1992, making a small set of three sea life designs. 

The steel coins were very small and the designs were in low relief, but nevertheless they possess a certain charm.




1992. 100  cruzeiros.   Manatee.
1992. 500  cruzeiros.   Leatherback sea turtle.
1992. 1000 cruzeiros.  Two acará angelfish.

Designer: Gloria Dias.

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1992.

Hungary released its first post-communist design series, which featured birds and flowers.

See also: Hungary: post-communist coinage.




1     forint.  Royal Coat of Arms.
2     forint.  Hungarian meadow saffron. 
5     forint.  White egret.
10   forint.  Royal Coat of Arms.
20   forint.  Iris.                             
50   forint.  Saker falcon.
100 forint.  Royal Coat of Arms.