SA Union: Visit by Edward, Prince of Wales, to South Africa: Cape Town

Form:

Circular

By:

Percy Metcalfe / Royal Mint, London

Date:

1925

Ref:

AM2: 189; Laidlaw: 0107;

Variations:

Size	Metal	Mass	Value
32.1 mm	Silver	16.4 gm	$40
32.1 mm	Bronze	17.4 gm	$18

Edge:

Plain. Silver medal thickness 2.3 mm. Bronze medal thickness 3.1 mm.

Obverse:

Bareheaded bust the Prince in jacket, left. Signed: “PM” on shoulder at the bottom. Legend: “EDWARD.PRINCE(left) OF WALES (right)”.

Reverse:

Somewhat stylized port broadside view of a sailing ship at sea. Below: “CDG HOOP (Afrikaans abbreviation for the Cape of Good Hope)”. Signed: “PM” on right above sea. Legend: “CAPE TOWN.1925.KAAPSTAD”.

Notes:

Bronze medal issued inside a white cardboard box with the coat of arms of Cape Town on the outside of the lid.

Silver medal presented to councillors and other dignitaries. It is thinner than the bronze medal.

Struck at the Royal Mint in London with a recorded mintage of 47,104 in bronze.

Edward, Prince of Wales (1894-1972) was the eldest son of King George V and Queen Mary. Edward became King Edward VIII when his father died in early 1936. He abdicated in December of that year in favour of marriage to the American divorcee Wallis Simpson. His younger brother then became King George VI.

Between 30th April and 29th July 1925 the Prince toured Southern Africa. On a Royal train provided by the South African Railways, he visiting Cape Province, the Orange Free State, Basutoland, Natal, Transvaal, Swaziland, Southern & Northern Rhodesia and the Bechuanaland Protectorate.