RSA (Pre-1994): Nelson Mandela / Umkhonto we Sizwe
|
|
|
Form:
|
Circular with attached loop.
|
By:
|
? |
Date:
|
1961 (?) |
Ref:
|
Laidlaw: 0657;
|
Variations:
|
Size | Metal | Mass | Value |
---|
40.1 mm | Brass | 20.6 gm | $40 |
|
Edge:
|
Plain.
|
Obverse:
|
Bust of Mandela in middle age with beard wearing open-necked shirt, front and slightly right. Legend above: "Nelson Mandela" and below: "Symbol of resistance".
|
Reverse:
|
Stylised full figure of an African warrior, right, in loin cloth, spear raised in right arm, shield in left. Legend within quotation marks below: “The struggle is my life”.
|
Notes:
|
The medal was possibly issued after a press statement made by Mandela on 26 June 1961 in which he first used, 'the struggle is my life'.
It is not known where the medals was made; possibly in France where other medals of Mandela were made at this time; almost certainly not in South Africa.
|