Catalog
10 Maloti - Moshoeshoe II Independence
| Issuer | Lesotho |
|---|---|
| Year | 1976 |
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| Composition | Silver (.925) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | KINGDOM OF LESOTHO 1966-1976 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE |
| Reverse description | A figure of a Basotho woman dressed in traditional attire, including a conical mokorotlo hat surmounted by an orb finial, and a draped blanket, is depicted in three-quarter view facing right, beating a traditional drum. To the right in the middle ground stands a traditional Basotho thatched rondavel hut. The entire composition is enclosed within a rope-style inner border and a reeded outer rim. The denomination '10 MALOTI' is inscribed along the lower portion of the field. |
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| Additional information |
Lesotho marked its tenth anniversary of independence in 1976 with a series of commemorative issues, this being among the silver pieces in that program. Independence had come in October 1966 under King Moshoeshoe II, who spent much of his reign in a fractious relationship with the military governments that periodically seized power — he was deposed twice, in 1990 and again in 1995, before his death in disputed circumstances in January 1996.
The .925 silver strikes in this series were produced for collector sale rather than circulation, typical of Lesotho's commemorative output in the 1970s, when the tiny landlocked kingdom used anniversary coinage partly as a foreign currency earner.