You might be familiar with the trio of extraordinary series from the South African Mint paying tribute to five of the world’s most powerful and dangerous wild animals. First came the Natura Series in the 1990s—spotlighting the Elephant, Lion, Black Rhinoceros, Leopard and Buffalo. The series was a humongous success and had collectors clamoring for more. It took a while, decades actually, but the Mint finally acquiesced and released the Big Five Series I in 2019, with new coin designs honoring Africa’s Big 5 most iconic animals. Once again, collectors could not get enough of these limited-edition coins.
Then in 2021 came the Big 5 Series II, again honoring the Big 5 of African wildlife. And as with past releases, each of the one-ounce coins quickly disappeared into the hands of collectors.
These spectacular coins are even more spectacular in these large sizes BUT—it should be noted that the entire mintage of the 2022 Kilo and Five-Ounce Big 5 Series II Lion gold and silver coins was fully allocated by South African Mint before the first coins even dropped from mint presses!
The Coin of the Year (COTY) program is an internationally conducted competition presented by World Coin News to recognize and encourage outstanding coin design and innovation worldwide. The 40th program in 2022 honored coins dated 2022 in 10 categories of competition decided by an international panel of judges. The 2022 one-ounce Gold Big 5 Series II Lion was awarded the “Best Gold Coin of the Year”.
The impact of that design is stunningly accentuated on these large kilo and five-ounce sizes. Capturing the majesty of the African Lion, the obverse depicts the powerful head of a large male lion as he looks proudly across his vast domain. On the lower half of the coin, the legend SOUTH AFRICA is separated from the inscription BIG FIVE 2022 by a small Coat of Arms of South Africa.
The reverse design focuses on the beauty of these regal animals with an ingenious design that showcases a bisected, side by side, head-on image of a lion’s face. An eye, whiskers and part of the lion’s nose are prominent in this design, which becomes one complete lion head when two coins are placed next to each other. An entire pride can be formed by placing multiple coins next to each other.
These Big 5 Series II Lion Coins are available struck in a kilo and five ounces of high-purity 99.99% pure gold (50 Rand South Africa legal tender) and a kilo and five ounces of 99.9% fine silver (5 Rand South Africa legal tender).
Coins are graded on a 70-point scale, with a grade of 70 representing absolute perfection, even under magnification. There is no higher grade. The coins here have been certified as perfect Mint State-70 (MS70) by Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), one of the top coin-grading services in the world. Not only that, each coin has been certified by NGC as First Day of Issue (FDI), meaning it was received for grading within 24 hours of the official mint release. First Day of Issue coins are sought-after because they are fresh and sharp, and because there are so few of them compared to the overall population. What you have here are not only the best of the best, they’re also the first of the best.
Each of these perfect, flawless coins comes sonically sealed with an exclusive label featuring a hand-signed signature from the Director of the South African Mint, Honey Mamabolo. Big 5 Series II Lion Coins with FDI designations and hand-signed labels are exclusive to our Scarce & Unique Division.
If you haven’t already grabbed the phone to secure your oversized 2022 Gold and Silver Big 5 Series II African Lion Coins, now is the time to get on it! Only 10 kilo gold, only 50 five-ounce gold, only 100 kilo silver and only 500 five-ounce silver coins have been authorized. Following the success of all of the South African Mint’s other wildlife releases, these coins are in high demand, and will disappear quickly from our vault.
What all that adds up to is simple—act now or wind up empty-handed. See for yourself why these coins will hold a valued spot in your collection!
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to get add these gorgeous, flawless Big 5 Series II Lion Coins in large kilo and five-ounce sizes, with FDI designations and hand-signed labels, to your collection! Releases from the South African Mint featuring their iconic animals have proven to be extraordinarily popular, and these are sure to be no exception. The limited quantities we have available will not last. Secure yours immediately before our supply has run out forever!