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5 Cents African Wild Dog
| Issuer | South African Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 2005 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 26.7 mm |
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| Obverse description | The post-1994 South African coat of arms is rendered in high relief at the centre of the obverse, featuring a secretary bird with outstretched wings surmounting a shield supported by two human figures, with a protea wreath at the base and a Khoisan motto scroll below. The date 2005 appears in the upper field above the arms. The legend SOUTH AFRICA curves along the lower periphery, with the engraver's initials ALS incuse in the lower left field. The design is executed in proof finish with a deeply mirrored field contrasting against frosted relief elements. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The African Wild Dog series from the South African Mint was part of a broader push in the early 2000s to produce wildlife-themed bullion and collector coinage that could compete internationally with the Canadian Wildlife and Australian series. The wild dog itself — Lycaon pictus — was a deliberate choice: a species with fewer than 6,000 individuals remaining in the wild at time of issue, and one almost entirely absent from South African coinage history before this series.
KM#320 is catalogued as a proof or specimen strike, not a circulation piece — no 5-cent coin of this composition ever entered commerce.