Catalog
2 Maloti - Moshoeshoe II FAO
| Issuer | Central Bank of Lesotho |
|---|---|
| Year | 1969 |
| Type | Non-circulating coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Right-facing effigy of King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho, depicted wearing traditional Basotho attire including a feathered headdress and a draped cloak with a beaded necklace, rendered in high relief. The portrait is boldly modelled in a naturalistic style, occupying the central field. A beaded inner border encircles the design, with six small five-pointed stars evenly distributed around the periphery. The legend 'LESOTHO 1969' arcs along the upper portion of the coin, and the name 'MOSHOESHOE' appears in the lower field beneath the portrait. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central field depicts a figure of a woman bent forward in a harvesting pose, gathering and bundling stalks of grain in an agricultural field, rendered in high relief against a background of standing crops. The scene conveys the FAO themes of food production and rural labor. A beaded inner border frames the central design, with small five-pointed stars and a mint mark visible at the lower left periphery. The legend 'F.A.O. KHOTSO PULA NALA' — a Sesotho phrase meaning 'Peace, Rain, Prosperity' — arcs along the upper border, while the denomination '2 MALOTI' is inscribed along the lower border. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Issued in 1969 as part of the FAO's "Food for All" campaign, which prompted dozens of newly independent nations to produce commemorative coinage in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Lesotho, landlocked entirely within South Africa and barely two years into independence from Britain at the time of striking, used the issue partly to signal institutional legitimacy on the world stage. The Central Bank itself had only been established in 1978 — meaning this coin predates the issuing authority now attributed to it, with the National Bank of Lesotho serving in that capacity at the time.