R2 coin commemorating the ‘right to freedom and security of the person’ wins 2022 international Best Circulating Coin at the Coin of the Year Awards.

The South African Mint has earned a second award in the Best Circulating Coin category at the 2022 international Coin of the Year Awards for the SA25 R2 coin commemorating the ‘right to freedom and security of the person’ as enshrined in the South African Bill of Rights.

The commemorative circulation R2 coin depicts on its reverse a mother and daughter walking freely in nature. The daughter is holding a sunflower, which is magical in its ability to move its head towards the sun, resonant of the resilience, optimism and hopefulness of the young.

This R2 coin is the result of a national competition held at the end of 2019. The competition called on all South Africans to submit designs for a new R2 coin featuring a right of their choice from the South African Bill of Rights that had not been featured on the earlier 2019 SA25 commemorative circulation coins. The winning design was submitted by a local graphic designer, Esta Quirk.

The Coin of the Year (COTY) Awards is an internationally conducted awards programme that recognises excellence and ingenuity in the world of coin design, and celebrates the accomplishments of mints, central banks and contractors globally in numismatic design, artistic vision, craftsmanship and marketing efforts.

The Best Circulating Coin category, under which the South African Mint was nominated and conferred, recognises coins that are made of non-precious metals, possess all-round appeal, both from aesthetic and commercial viewpoints, and best meet the basic considerations of actual circulating monetary units.

The South African Mint is also honoured to have been nominated among the best in the Best Gold Coin category for the 1oz (R50) Big 5 Rhino coin and the Most Inspirational Coin category for the 2½c South African Inventions Tickey showcasing a South African invention that revolutionised cataract surgery − the retinal cryoprobe.

This win follows a few others received by the South African Mint at the COTY Awards in recent years, namely Best Gold Coin (2009) for the 1oz (R100) Natura featuring the ‘White Rhino Safari Through Africa’, the coveted Coin of the Year (2012) for the 1/2oz (R50) Natura featuring the ‘Nature’s Family – The Meerkat’, and most recently the Best Contemporary Event (2019) for the (R2) Crown depicting the world’s first successful human-to-human heart transplant.

The South African Mint is proud to continue its long-standing tradition of crafting coins that not only tell the story of South Africa but inspire the world as well. The SA25 R2 coin commemorating the ‘right to freedom and security of the person’ coin honours the most significant book in the history of South Africa, the Bill of Rights, contained in Chapter 2 of the Constitution of South Africa, which itself is one of the most influential documents of its kind in contemporary history. “This award allows us to see, through our SA25 circulation coins which commemorated the 25th anniversary of our democracy, the visible and tangible icons of our constitutional legacy,” said South African Mint Managing Director, Honey Mamabolo.

It is important to note that the value of a regular, non-collectable, commemorative circulation coin that is not proof quality or encapsulated, is that which is depicted on the coin. Thus, a commemorative circulation R2 is only worth R2. The public is urged to make use of all commemorative currency coins as they would any other currency coin, as these commemorative coins do not hold any intrinsic value other than that depicted on the face of the coin.