Zimbabwe: unadopted designs from the Royal Mint

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Zimbabwe ruins.

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There was a slight possibility that the new currency would not be called a dollar.

So just in case, another design was prepared.

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1c.    Garland of leaves of the flame lily, the national flower.
5c.    Hare.
10c.  Baobabs tree.
20c.  Birchenough Bridge, Sabi River.
50c.  Rising sun, symbolic of Independence.
$1.  Zimbabwe ruins.

Common obverse: The Zimbabwe soapstone bird, based on a totem found
                at the Zimbabwe ruins and now in the National Museum.

Designer: Jeff Huntly.

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The finished set was very stylish. Mike Hibbit produced some beautiful designs, but many African countries already had full animal sets, so maybe it was good to see something a little different. All the same, it was some years before another African country portrayed a cheetah on its circulation coins (Mozambique), and South Sudan has only recently issued the first giraffe design since the half penny of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

Preparation is everything, of course, and the Royal Mint ran an efficient project, keeping its eye on the ball a few years before real change came to Rhodesia. It was also prepared and versatile enough to change its plans at short notice, to please the client. Excellent work, Royal Mint.   

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See also:

Zimbabwe-Rhodesia 50 cent pattern of 1980

Zimbabwe

Southern Rhodesia / Rhodesia and Nyasaland / Rhodesia