The 1961 Decimal Transition

Why Decimalise? The Road to 1961

The £.s.d. system (12 pence to a shilling, 20 shillings to a pound) was complex and cumbersome for commerce and education. Most of the world had already decimalised or was planning to do so. The decision to introduce a decimal currency was taken as far back as 1956, when JG Strijdom was Prime Minister of the Union of SA, culminating in the introduction of rands and cents in 1961 .

From 1956 to 1958, the Decimal Coinage Commission explored the decimalisation of South African currency, with their recommendations adopted in the Decimalisation Coin Act of 1959 . The process was driven by the simplicity of a decimal system, compared with the previous imperial system.

Decimalisation was not the announcement of an independent currency, but rather the replacement of one independent currency system with another . It was also separate from the move to republic status – two distinct processes that happened in the same year .

Extensive Preparations – "A Brilliant Technical Exercise"

The transition was planned with military precision. On 1 December 1959, the Minister of Finance, Dr. T.E. Donges, announced that the official change-over date or "D‑Day" would be 14 February 1961 . A Decimalisation Board was established to oversee the change-over.

Conversion Rates

The Decimal Coinage Commission recommended the rate of R2 to £1 (or 10 shillings to the rand) partly because the value of the vast majority of cash transactions at the time was less than £1. Setting the value of the rand at £1 (20 shillings) would have resulted in considerable small change requirements for cash transactions .

• £1 = R2 (one pound became a two rand coin)
• 1 Shilling = 10c (the shilling became a ten cent coin)
• 1 Penny ≈ 0.8333c (complicated conversion, leading to pricing adjustments)
• 3 Pence (Tickey) = 2½c – the term "Tickey" continued for the 2½c coin

First Decimal Coin Series (1961–1964)

In 1961, when the Republic of South Africa was proclaimed, the country formally adopted a decimal system. The image of Jan van Riebeeck, the Dutch settler who landed at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, replaced the British monarchs on the obverse . Denominations issued were ½c, 1c, 2½c, 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c .

The 1961 Cent – A Numismatic Rarity

A rare and little-known type of the 1961 cent exists. According to C.L. Engelbrecht's Money in South Africa, the coin features a Voortrekker wagon on the reverse (the "Volkswagen" of southwest Africa). After the first batch was struck, the then‑director of the South African Mint, J.P. Roux, thought the space below the wagon appeared too cluttered. The dies were changed to reduce the "clutter," though without consulting the artist Hilda Mason, whose initials remained on the coin .

The first version of the coin may be deemed by some as a semi-pattern, but these coins are normally given currency status since they were struck as part of a normal production run and most were placed into general circulation . Only about 20 are known from an original mintage of 80 pieces. An NGC MS-64 example sold for between £2,500 to £3,500 ($4,060 to $5,685) .

The 2½c "Tickey"

The 2½c coin inherited the old nickname "Tickey" from the pre-decimal threepence .

First Decimal Banknotes

On 14 February 1961, the rand replaced the pound. Rand denominations issued were the R1, R2, R10 and R20. They were signed by Governor Rissik and printed by the South African Bank Note Company (SABN). These notes remained active until 1967 .

Regional Adoption – The Rand Beyond South Africa

Four neighbouring countries – Botswana (then the Bechuanaland Protectorate), Eswatini (the Protectorate of Swaziland), Lesotho (the Basutoland Protectorate) and Namibia (South West Africa) – used the existing South African currency as legal tender and therefore simultaneously adopted the new South African currency . Today, the rand remains legal tender in Eswatini, Lesotho, and Namibia as part of the Southern African Common Monetary Area .

Public Reaction – Hoarding, Profiteering, and Confusion

The transition on 14 February 1961 was remarkably smooth in technical terms, but human factors created challenges. According to a contemporary dispatch from the Financial Times, nearly 34,000,000 cent and half-cent coins were put into circulation on the first day, but within four days these had largely disappeared – hoarded by private collectors . The public gradually returned the new coins to circulation, but early shortages caused frustration .

Shopkeepers and customers were baffled by quotations for coins that were not available. The public ignored repeated warnings that the old coinage would remain in circulation for a long time and that they would have to cope with a mixture of coins .

Profiteering and Parliamentary Concern

More serious resentment was caused by the tendency of some retailers to mark up pennies as cents – a cent being worth one-tenth of a shilling – making a quick profit. A wide range of low-priced household goods became dearer; for instance, a two-penny roll was priced at two cents .

In the House of Assembly on 16 February 1961, an Opposition member raised a telegram from a trade union demanding legislation "to stop profiteering on decimalization of shopkeepers, manufacturers, producers, etc. Many cases of increased prices of articles in short supply." The Minister was urged to watch the situation carefully and take drastic action if necessary .

Despite these early difficulties, the Financial Times acknowledged the transition as "a brilliant technical exercise" .

The Republic and the Rand's Enduring Legacy

Three and a half months after Decimal Day, on 31 May 1961, South Africa became a republic and temporarily withdrew from the Commonwealth . The rand, named after the Witwatersrand where gold was discovered, became the symbol of a new independent nation .

Since decimalisation in 1961, the exchange rate of the rand has weakened from R2 = £1 to its current level of around R20 = £1 (as of 2021). This depreciation was caused by several factors, including differences in economic growth rates, inflation rates and interest rates between SA and the UK, as well as sociopolitical factors .

Sources

• South African Reserve Bank. "History of banknotes and coin."
• Papers Past (NZ). "South Africa's Change to Decimal System" – Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29076, 12 December 1959 .
• Papers Past (NZ). "Decimal Coinage: South African Experience" – Press, Volume C, Issue 29452, 2 March 1961 .
• Sunday Times. "Sixty years since we made cents of our currency" (22 January 2021) .
• Hansard. House of Assembly, Vol 106, 16 February 1961 .
• Coin World. "Early decimal coins of South Africa in Robert Bakewell Collection" (13 September 2014) .
• Wikipedia. "1961 in South Africa" .
• Remitly. "South African Rand (ZAR): Comprehensive Currency Guide" .

Revision History