2022 1 oz South Africa Gold Elephant Coin (BU)

The South African Mint’s Big Five series takes a different approach from most sovereign wildlife programs: instead of showing the animal at a distance, each coin fills the field with a close portrait and pairs it with an extreme crop on the opposite side. The 2022 Elephant carries one troy ounce of 9999 fine gold with a 50 Rand face value, and the two-sided treatment gives it a presence that few one-ounce gold coins match.

Key Features:

• Purity and Weight: One troy ounce of Au 9999 fine gold
• Face Value: Fifty Rand, legal tender in South Africa
• Obverse: A cropped view of the elephant’s face with a central specification medallion
• Reverse: A full head-on elephant portrait with the South African coat of arms

The obverse pushes in tight on the animal. The composition holds only the upper face and eyes of the elephant, both eyes set at the top corners of the field with the deeply creased forehead and trunk filling everything between them, and the tusks entering from the lower edges. The wrinkled hide is struck as an unbroken network of fine lines running across the entire surface. At the center sits a circular medallion reading FIFTY RAND around the top, 1oz in a boxed panel at the middle, and Au 9999 along the bottom.

The reverse pulls back to a full head-on portrait. The elephant faces the viewer directly with ears fanned wide to either side, tusks curving forward and inward, and the trunk hanging straight down the center with its ridged texture cut in individual bands. The eyes catch light against the heavily creased skin around them. SOUTH AFRICA arcs along the lower left rim, BIG FIVE 2022 along the lower right, and the South African coat of arms sits centered at the base between them.

Coins are struck to brilliant uncirculated standard by the South African Mint and ship in a protective flip or capsule. The 24 karat surfaces are soft, so handling by the edges is worthwhile.

Four-nines gold, sovereign backing, and a design built around one of Africa’s most recognizable animals. Order the 2022 Gold Elephant today.