Details: 

1965 Afrikaans 1 Cent Coin - Thicker Flange Type:

Diameter: 19.05mm  

Mass: 3.00gm  

Metal Content: Copper

Thickness: 1.7mm

(Normal Thikness would be 1.57mm)

1965 English 50 Cent Coin

  Diameter: 27.85 mm  

Mass: 9.50 grams

Metal Content: Nickel

Reverse design initials:

T S for TOMMY SASSEEN ( below the design on the right hand side on the reverse )

1965 Afrikaans 1 Rand Coin

  Diameter: 32.70 mm

Mass: 15.00 grams  

Metal Content: Silver 80%

Reverse design initials:

J v Z for JAN van ZYL ( below the leg of the Springbok on the reverse )

Description:

A revised coinage series was introduced for 1965.

Denominations included 1⁄2, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and R1. Silver was replaced in circulation coins by nickel.

Initially, the coinage bore the portrait of Van Riebeeck, and later the state presidents or the South African coat of arms. The country name was given in Afrikaans, English or both. The sparrows depicted on the 1 c coin of 1965 are Cape Sparrows. Their distribution is confined to South Africa and Namibia. The story of the origin of the sparrows on the 1 cent coin has been told in a number of texts. Although difficult to verify using written historical records, the use of the sparrows apparently has its origins during the South African War of 1899 to 1902. The conditions in the concentration camps were so harsh and the women and children detained in these camps had a continuous battle for survival. After the war, some of the survivors visited the farm of the Free State President M T Steyn, Onze Rust, near Bloemfontein. There they lobbied Mrs Steyn that if South Africa ever minted its own coins, the two sparrows should appear on the smallest denomination coin in remembrance of victims and survivors of the concentration camps. The person assumed to have suggested the sparrow design to Mrs Steyn was Jacoba Marais from the farm Vlakfontein near Bloemfontein, referring to the biblical sparrows in a verse taken from the Dutch Bibles of the time, Matthew10:29. The verse read as follows, " Worden niet twee musjes om een penningsken verkocht? En niet een van deze zal op de aarde vallen zonder uw Vader." The general English translation from the Dutch would be " Will not two sparrows be sold for a penny? And none of these will fall on the earth without your Father."

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An extract from Chapter 12 titled "Rare coins in the series and their values" of Francois Malan's book - History of the Nickel Coins of South Africa

In the 1970's and 1980's, schoolboys collecting circulation coins (those not fortunate enough to have had a family member involved in numismatics or knew of the existence of a coin dealer!) were at a loss to explain why they could not find the 1965 1c and 50c coins or the 1969 20c and 50c coins in change handed to them at the local store. The 1970 and 1973 20c coins were probably missing from their collections as well. The author was one of these boys, and little did he know that the gaps in his collection included some of the rarest coins of all South African coins ever minted. Three particularly low mintages can be found among the numbers listed in Chapter 11. These coins are the 1965 50c (English) (mintage of approximately 50), The 1965 R1 (Afrikaans) (mintage of 120) and the 1965 1c (Afrikaans) (mintage of 1031). They are keenly sought by collectors as a complete collection of the series can only be assembled if these rarities can be sourced. The 1965 50c (English) appears to be the most difficult to find. As a result, these coins have significantly increased in value over the years. They never the less still seem to be undervalued by collectors and the prices seem to be low if the mintage figures are compared to other rare South African coins.

Sam Lieberman compiled a list of rarities, excluding the patterns, for Journal No. 2 of the Association of South African Numismatic Societies. The 1965 50c (English) featured as No. 9 on the list (even though he gave it a mintage figure of 80), the 1965 R1 (Afrikaans) was No. 10 and the 1965 1c (Afrikaans) was No. 32. In comparison, the famous 1931 tickey is No. 11 on the list (mintage of 128). A significant increase in prices may therefore occur in the future if the true rarity of these nickel coins is realised and the number of collectors of the series increases. In comparison to modern trends, there appears to have been significant interest in these coins in the late 1960's. Bickel's had a public auction on 4 November 1966 at the Criterion Hotel in Johannesburg and Lot no 95 had the following description: 

'The coin market is relatively underdeveloped in South Africa compared to the rest of the world and, and with the new generation of collectors becoming interested in the series, the coins will become very scarce indeed.'