2 Rand SUID-AFRIKA - SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa's bimetallic and plated coinage expansion of the late 1980s was driven partly by the need to deter counterfeiting of higher-denomination coins and partly by rising metal costs during a period of intense international sanctions pressure. The 2 Rand in this composition replaced a short-lived nickel predecessor as the economy absorbed the shocks of financial isolation following the debt standstill of 1985, when South Africa suspended repayment on a significant portion of its foreign debt and the rand lost nearly half its value against the dollar within months.