The coinage of Namibia

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Reverse of the $5 coin.

The 5 dollar coin, the highest denomination of the series, is also made of brass.

It weighs 6.2 grams and has a diameter of 24.9 mm.


The reverse design features an African fish eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer).

The fish eagle appears on the Namibian coat of arms.

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An African fish eagle.

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THE DESIGNS



The 5 cents design, whose sun rays reference the Namibian flag.

The Mint of Finland produced these coins. It modelled the coat of arms on the obverse.

Jukka Uusitalo of Finland designed the reverse of the 5, 10 and 50 cents.


South African artist Bernard Sargent created the bird designs for the $1 and $5 coins.

He was born in 1921. He was an employee of the South African company Metal Image.


There are triangles around the edges of the reverse designs.

These represent the rays of the sun on the Namibian flag.

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NAMIBIA'S RANGE OF DENOMINATIONS

Namibia issued the following coin denominations in 1993:

5, 10 and 50 cents, and 1 and 5 dollars.

Namibia is a member of the Common Monetary Area (CMA).

The CMA links South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini into a monetary union.


The South African rand is legal tender across the CMA.

However, the other member states issue their own currencies.

These are the Lesotho loti, Namibian dollar and Swazi lilangeni.

They are exchanged at par with the rand.

The South African coin denominations in 1993 were:

1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, and 1 and 2 rand.

A 5 rand coin was added in 1994.


Namibia was already a member of the CMA in 1993.

However, its range of coin denominations did not mirror South Africa's.

Nor has this ever been the case since.

Namibia's coins also have different specifications from South Africa's.

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Obverse of the 5 cents coin of 2000.

In 1999 and 2000 Namibia issued a special 5 cents coin.

It was a circulation coin and was FAO-themed.

FAO stands for the Food and Agricultural Organization.

That is a United Nations body.


This special 5 cents coin is slightly larger than the standard coin.

It weighs 3.1 grams and has a diameter of 20 mm.

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Reverse of the 5 cents coin of 2000.

The reverse design featured a Cape horse mackerel (Trachurus capensis).

The legend on the reverse reads:

XXI CENTURY
FAO FOOD SECURITY
HORSE MACKEREL
EAT MORE FISH

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A horse mackerel.

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UPDATE ON THE 5 CENTS COIN

The regular 5 cents coin is no longer being minted.

It was last minted in 2018.

However, 5 cents coins are still used in daily transactions.

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RELATED TOPICS

Namibia: pattern coins of the 1990s

Namibia: unadopted sketches for the first coinage

Paul Baker's web page about Namibian coins

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