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1 Penny - Victoria Cape of Good Hope
| Issuer | Cape of Good Hope |
|---|---|
| Year | 1889 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The Arms of the Cape of Good Hope displayed centrally, comprising a quartered shield with heraldic supporters on either side and a crest above. A ribbon or scroll bearing the motto is positioned below the shield. The colonial territorial name and date are inscribed within the surrounding legend, with SPES BONA — the Latin motto of the Cape Colony, meaning 'Good Hope' — integrated into the reverse inscription. |
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| Reverse lettering | CAPE OF GOOD HOPE SPES BONA 1889 (Translation: Good Hope) |
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| Additional information |
The Cape of Good Hope issued its own coinage independently of the broader South African territories until Union in 1910, and these nickel pennies were produced at a time when the colony was navigating the competing pressures of diamond money flooding in from Kimberley and chronic small-change shortages in everyday commerce. Nickel was an unusual choice — most contemporary colonial issues ran to bronze — and the composition was deliberate, intended to resist the harsh coastal climate better than copper alloys.
The Hern reference places this among a small series that circulated alongside British imperial coinage without ever fully displacing it.