The South African Gold Coin Exchange (SAGCE) and The Scoin Shop last week commemorated February 11, 1990, the date on which the late former President Nelson Mandela was released from prison by launching a one-ounce, twenty-fifth anniversary Mandela release gold medallion series.

The image on the medallion depicts Mandela walking with his arm and fist raised in victory, accompanied by members of his family, through the gates of the Victor Verster prison, in the Western Cape.

“This iconic image will always go down as the moment South Africa started its walk to democracy,” says SAGCE executive chairperson and The Scoin Shop executive chairperson Alan Demby.

The medallion also features an inscription in bold capital letters – PEACE. DEMOCRACY. FREEDOM FOR ALL – and the date of the event.

The medallion was officially unveiled at SAGCE’s head offices, in Sandton, Johannesburg, on February 11 at 14:14 – the actual date and time of Mandela’s release, after being imprisoned for 27 years for fighting against apartheid – during a private function for the company’s employees.

Demby highlights that the medallions were designed and minted by the SAGCE, in conjunc-tion with the Mint of Norway and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

He adds that only 150 of the medallions have been minted.

“We are thrilled to commemorate this special day. It will always be remembered as the day of new hope, not only for South Africa but also the world. The Mandela medallions are the perfect way to remember our great Madiba and honour his legacy.”

Demby also informs Mining Weekly that one of the Mandela anniversary release medallions was auctioned at the yearly FW de Klerk gala dinner on February 2, held in Cape Town; the theme of the event was: A quarter-century of building and defending non-racial constitutional democracy.

“The medallion was auctioned for R110 000, with the proceeds going to the FW de Klerk Foundation,” he states.

He explains that these medallions form part of the Nobel laureate medallion programme, which is authorised by the Nobel Institute.

“The programme selects laureates to be immortalised through medallions, which are minted by the Mint of Norway and sold to generate royalties, which are then donated to various organisations founded by the laureates,” says, Demby, who adds that the SAGCE and The Scoin Shop are the exclusive global distributors of the Nobel peace medallions.

He tells Mining Weekly that Mint of Norway and the Nobel laureate medallion programme plan to launch a series of commemorative medallions of African-American civil rights movement icon and 1964 Nobel peace prize winner Martin Luther King Jnr later this year.

“Like the Mandela medallions, they will certainly be memorable pieces that coin collectors and people with an affinity for human rights activists will want to have,” Demby concludes.