Catalog
10 Maloti - Moshoeshoe II FAO
| Issuer | Lesotho |
|---|---|
| Year | 1969 |
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| Composition | Gold (.917) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | LESOTHO 1969 MOSHOESHOE |
| Reverse description | Central device depicts a Basotho farmer in traditional conical hat guiding a team of two oxen pulling a wooden plough across rocky terrain, with a mountainous landscape rendered in the background, the entire pastoral scene set within a raised oval cartouche. Four small stars are evenly distributed around the inner border. The legend F.A.O. KHOTSO PULA NALA arcs along the upper periphery, commemorating the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization with the Sesotho motto meaning Peace, Rain, and Prosperity. The denomination 10 MALOTI is inscribed in the lower exergue, with the engraver's signature visible at the lower left of the central device. The design is framed by a continuous beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Lesotho's 1969 gold issues were struck to mark the country's third anniversary of independence from British rule — an independence achieved in October 1966 without the armed conflict that characterized so many African decolonizations of the period. This FAO-series piece was produced as part of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's broader campaign to engage newly sovereign nations in food security awareness, which resulted in commemorative coinages from dozens of countries between 1968 and the mid-1970s.
Moshoeshoe II had been installed as king only months before independence, at just 26 years old. He would later be deposed twice by the military government of Leabua Jonathan.