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1/10 Ounce Natura - Gemsbok, Prince of the Kalahari
| Issuer | South African Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
| Type | Non-circulating coin |
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| Obverse description | The obverse features a bold, stylized design by Arthur Sutherland depicting the head and sweeping elongated horns of a gemsbok (Oryx gazella) emerging from a richly contrasted field divided between a polished mirror-like dark background and a textured, striated landscape element suggesting the arid Kalahari environment. The gemsbok portrait is rendered in high relief with fine frosted detail, facing right, its distinctive straight horns extending dramatically toward the upper left of the field. The repeated circular legend 'SOUTH AFRICA 2001' arcs around the upper portion of the coin in multiple lines, and the engraver's initials 'ALS' appear discreetly in the lower left field. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | SOUTH AFRICA 2001 ALS |
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| Additional information |
The Natura series launched in 1994 as the South African Mint's answer to a specific collector demand: a bullion-adjacent gold coin that prioritized wildlife subjects over the Krugerrand's unapologetically commercial identity. Each annual release focused on a single animal or ecosystem, and 2001's Gemsbok entry was part of a broader Kalahari-themed set that year. Mintages were kept deliberately low relative to the Krugerrand, making fractional issues like this tenth-ounce particularly thin on the ground in the secondary market.
The Gemsbok's survival range extends deep into the driest parts of southern Africa — it can tolerate core body temperatures that would kill most mammals, a physiological fact that made it a logical centerpiece for a Kalahari series.