Jardines Galleries · Educational tokens · Cape Province Education Department
Fibre Teaching Coins of the Union.
Model money for South African classrooms. Pressed-fibre replicas of circulating coins, dated to match the real coinage, used to teach Cape Province schoolchildren the £.s.d. system through the 1930s. Officially titled "Models of South African Coins" / "Modelle van Suid Afrikaanse Muntstukke." The unique fact: they were almost certainly struck using the official dies at the Pretoria Mint — making them the only educational tokens in South African numismatics produced from circulating-coin dies.
Model money
Cape Province Education Department · c.1930–1939The Union's monetary system was £.s.d. — pounds, shillings, pence — and learning it required physical objects to handle. From about 1930 to 1939, the Cape Province Education Department issued sets of pressed-fibre coins to schools across the Cape Province (and possibly all four provinces) so children could simulate transactions in the classroom.
The boxes are bilingual — labelled "Models of South African Coins" on one face and "Modelle van Suid Afrikaanse Muntstukke" on the other — and contained 138 individual tokens across nine denominations. Enough for a class to act out a market.
Struck from official dies
George V (1931–1935) · George VI (1937–1939)The dates on the fibre tokens match the dates on the real circulating coins. C.L. Engelbrecht and others have argued from this evidence that the tokens were almost certainly produced using the same dies that produced the actual currency — which would mean the Pretoria Mint as the production site.
If correct — and the case is strong — these are the only educational tokens in South African numismatics struck from circulating-coin dies. That's the fact that lifts them from school-classroom curiosity into proper numismatic territory. See the Pretoria Mint page.
Teaching £.s.d. in the 1930s
£ = libra · s = solidus · d = denariusIn the early decades of the twentieth century, the Union of South Africa's monetary system was denominated in pounds, shillings, and pence — the same £.s.d. structure inherited from medieval Britain, with its peculiar arithmetic: 12 pence to a shilling, 20 shillings to a pound, and a quarter-penny called a farthing. For schoolchildren in the 1930s, these conversions were not abstractions; they were everyday calculations required to count change at a shop counter or work out wages.
Teaching that system required physical money. From about 1930 to 1939, the Cape Province Education Department issued sets of pressed-fibre coins to schools throughout the province — and quite likely to schools in the other three Union provinces. The sets were officially titled in both languages: "Models of South African Coins" and "Modelle van Suid Afrikaanse Muntstukke."
What makes the issue numismatically interesting — rather than merely pedagogically curious — is the question of where they were made. The dates on the fibre tokens correspond exactly to the dates on the real circulating coins of the same years. This evidence strongly suggests the fibre tokens were produced at the Pretoria Mint using the same dies that struck the real currency. If so, they are unique among South African educational tokens.
Why fibre, why official dies
Material · Production attributionWhy fibre?
The tokens are made of a pressed-fibre material — a cardboard-like composition, denser and more durable than paper but softer than plastic. The choice was practical: fibre is lightweight, cheap to produce in quantity, and safe for classroom handling. The tokens were never intended for circulation, so the absence of metal didn't matter; the design fidelity to real coins was what mattered for teaching.
The Pretoria Mint argument
Pierre H. Nortje (Western Cape Numismatic Society) summarises: "the fact that the exact dates of the real coins appear on these fibre coins suggests strongly that they were produced using the official dies, likely at the Pretoria Mint." The 1931 George V farthing token, for instance, corresponds to a real farthing year that is now extremely scarce in metal — exactly the kind of detail one wouldn't expect from a private fibre manufacturer working without access to mint records.
"The years of the real coins are the same as those of the fibre tokens — for example the George V farthing dated 1931, etc. This indicates that the fibre tokens were probably produced using the official dies at the Pretoria Mint."
— C.L. Engelbrecht · Money in South Africa · 1987The sets — what was in each box
Nine denominations · 138 tokens · Bilingual packagingOriginal surviving boxes give an exact accounting of contents. Nine denominations spanning the full £.s.d. range, with quantities calibrated for classroom use — more pennies than half-crowns, more half-crowns than pounds, since the smaller denominations were the ones children would handle most often.
| Denomination | Value | Per Box | Colour & Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farthing | ¼d | 12 | Bronze-coloured fibre |
| Half Penny | ½d | 12 | Bronze-coloured fibre |
| Penny | 1d | 24 | Bronze-coloured fibre |
| Threepence | 3d | 20 | Silver-coloured fibre |
| Sixpence | 6d | 20 | Silver-coloured fibre |
| Shilling | 1s | 20 | Silver-coloured fibre |
| Half Crown | 2/6 | 10 | Silver-coloured fibre |
| Ten Shillings | 10s | 10 | Gold-coloured fibre disk |
| One Pound | £1 | 10 | Gold-coloured fibre disk |
| — Tokens per box — | 138 | 9 denominations · 3 colour tiers | |
George V vs George VI
1931–1935 vs 1937–1939 · Two reigns, two rarity tiersThe dated range divides cleanly into two reign periods, separated by the 1936 abdication year in which no Edward VIII coins ever entered Union circulation. The two halves trade at very different prices — George V tokens are an order of magnitude rarer than George VI.
George V issues
c.1931 – 1935- Years identified: 1931, 1933, 1935.
- The 1931 and 1933 tokens are extremely rare — none have been tracked in sales records, and very few are known to exist in collections.
- The 1935 tokens are scarce but slightly more available than 1931/1933.
- These correspond to the actual scarce years of Union coinage in metal.
George VI issues
1937 – 1939- Years identified: 1937, 1938, 1939.
- These are the most commonly encountered fibre teaching coins.
- Many more sets were produced during the George VI era.
- 1939 tokens exist (real 1939 Union coins are also common).
Pierre H. Nortje's research for the Western Cape Numismatic Society (May 2024) confirms that the George V tokens from 1931 and 1933 are virtually unobtainable, while the George VI tokens appear on the market with some regularity. Anyone hunting a complete year-and-reign run is effectively pursuing the 1931 and 1933 farthings — the rest of the set will assemble eventually; those two are the bottleneck.
Rarity & values
Complete sets · Individual tokens · Auction recordPer the MTB South Africa Tokens catalogue (Carroll & Jacobs, 2021), complete original boxes with all coins present are rare — and the box itself adds significant value. The table below covers individual token values across the three reign tiers.
Complete sets
- George VI complete set in original box — $1,000 to $3,000 depending on condition and completeness.
- George V complete set (1935) — $3,000 to $5,000 · extremely rare.
- George V 1931 or 1933 tokens — individual specimens have not appeared at auction in recent decades; value indeterminable but would be significant.
Individual tokens
| Denomination | George VI · 1937–1939 | George V · 1935 | George V · 1931 / 1933 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farthing (¼d) | $10 – $20 | $30 – $50 | No recent sales |
| Half Penny (½d) | $10 – $20 | $30 – $50 | No recent sales |
| Penny (1d) | $15 – $25 | $40 – $60 | No recent sales |
| Threepence (3d) | $20 – $30 | $50 – $80 | No recent sales |
| Sixpence (6d) | $20 – $30 | $50 – $80 | No recent sales |
| Shilling (1s) | $25 – $35 | $60 – $100 | No recent sales |
| Half Crown (2/6) | $30 – $40 | $70 – $120 | No recent sales |
| Ten Shillings (10s) | $40 – $60 | $100 – $150 | No recent sales |
| One Pound (£1) | $50 – $80 | $120 – $200 | No recent sales |
Boxes & identification
For collectors handling a piece in personOriginal boxes were sturdy cardboard with a hinged lid, labelled in both English and Afrikaans, often with a printed contents label. Surviving boxes are themselves collectible; box condition (wear, splits, missing labels) materially affects total set value. The six quick-checks below cover what to look for in any single piece.
Fibre texture
Cardboard-like but denser and more durable than paper. Distinct from plastic — has a slight grain.
Three tiers
Bronze for low denominations, silver for middle, gold for 10s and £1 disks.
Year determines value
Always check the date — 1931 and 1933 are virtually untracked; 1935 is scarce; 1937–1939 are common.
Two portraits
George V shows the older king; George VI shows the younger king. Same Pretoria Mint dies as the metal coinage.
Original packaging
Rectangular cardboard with separate compartments per denomination. Bilingual labels. Adds significant value.
Disk vs detailed
Smaller denominations carry detailed coin designs; the 10s and £1 are plain gold-coloured disks with value only.
- Engelbrecht, C.L. — Money in South Africa, 1987 — the Pretoria Mint dies attribution.
- Nortje, Pierre H. — "Fibre 'Teaching Coins' of the Union of South Africa," Western Cape Numismatic Society, May 2024 — rarity confirmation and the 1931 farthing observation.
- Carroll, Dr. Morgan & Jacobs, Allyn — MTB South Africa Tokens, 2021 — value benchmarks and complete-set ranges.
- South African Mint — historical archives.
- Personal collections and auction records, 2020–2025.
- Cross-references: The Pretoria Mint, The SA Pound Symbol (£.s.d. context), OFS Patterns.