Impending numismatic bonanza as South African Reserve Bank prepares to release new series of Banknotes featuring Nelson Mandela

Earlier this year the South African Reserve Bank announced that the President, Jacob Zuma, would be making an announcement on the 11th of February. No further details were released about the annoucement. Since the date fell on a Saturday there was considerable speculation about the nature of the event which resulted in some panic by investors which in turn led to the Rand devalueing by 2%.

There was some relief when it was announced that the Reserve Bank would be introducing an entirely new series of banknotes which would all feature Nelson Mandela on the obverse. This new series will not stray away from the existing “big five” theme as the reverse of the banknotes will all keep their respective wild animal portraits as currently found on the current series in circulation.

The South African Reserve Bank has set the date of release as Tuesday, the 6th of November 2012. The release date also co-incides with the US general election – an event which could possibly take some press exposure from the new series’ release.

The trade in South African banknotes has always been eclipsed by the trade in coins – especially circulation coins featuring Nelson Mandela. These very coins have seen stratospheric rises in value. Is the Reserve Bank trying to claw back some of this Madiba magic by the introduction of this new series? What is for certain is that every South African is guaranteed to get a piece of Mandela in their change and that the new series will be an instant hit amongst collectors and non-collectors alike.