2 oz Gold African Range Cheetah 2026 (Mintage: 200 | High Relief | Proof)
- Striking Design: fur you can feel
- Noble Origin: South African Mint
- Certificate of Authenticity: in an elegant case
- Striking DesignMuscles, fur and alert gaze stand out vividly
- Noble OriginStruck by South Africa's renowned mint
- Certificate of AuthenticityEvery coin comes in an elegant case with confirmed authenticity
Price alert set
shareSouth African Mint · Est. 1892
TheAfrican Range
The first high-relief strike in the history of the South African Mint.
Act I of the hunt: the cheetah surveys.
„Untamed gold: artistry, nature and form — united in perfect balance.“
More than three years of conceptualisation, modelling, prototyping and refinement culminate in a work of enduring distinction: South Africa’s first high-relief coin series.
The feline form rises from the surface with striking dimensionality — a direct link to the bronze sculpture it draws from. And to the untamed animal itself.
One series — five acts — 2026 to 2030
The cheetah’s hunt
One act per year. Five coins tell the complete story of a hunt — from the first survey to the repose that follows. Linked not merely in style, but in narrative.
From termite mounds the cheetah scans the grassland — razor-sharp eyesight, absolute patience.
Crouched low in the tall grass, silent to within 30 metres. Stillness. Precision.
The explosion: 100 km/h in three seconds — the fastest land animal on earth.
The dewclaw trips the prey — the hunt is decided in seconds.
After the hunt, stillness returns. The circle closes — and with it, the series.
The 2026 design
Survey — the surveying cheetah
Reverse — “Surveying Cheetah III” after Dylan Lewis
Dynamism in a triangle
The sculpture’s profile silhouette forms a forward-tilted triangle — tension, balanced by typography arranged in a perfect half circle along the bottom.
The textural frame
A frame executed in the same texture as the sculpture underscores its hand-wrought character — and demanded an entirely new approach to coin modelling.
A landscape in atmosphere
In the background: a delicately lasered savanna landscape with atmospheric depth — applied at maximum laser resolution.
The common portrait
The obverse of all five issues presents a cropped profile view of Dylan Lewis’s bronze “Cheetah Head” — gesturally connected to the Survey figure on the reverse.
One nation, many languages
“Iningizimu Afrika” — South Africa in isiZulu. Each issue carries the country’s name in a different official language of South Africa.
„In Lewis’s felines the boundary between creature and terrain dissolves: the surfaces suggest not fur, but rock, earth, grass and wind — pressed into form.“
From the official SA Mint companion book
Obverse — “Cheetah Head”, the series’ common obverse
“Surveying Cheetah III”, bronze — Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town
The artist
Dylan Lewis
Born in 1964 into a South African family of artists, Dylan Lewis is widely recognised as one of the world’s foremost sculptors of the animal form. Between 1993 and 2000 he devoted himself to Africa’s great predators — leopard, lion and cheetah.
His international career spans exhibitions in Paris, Sydney, Toronto, Houston and San Francisco. He is among the few living artists to have held solo auctions at Christie’s in London.
A unique development process
Three years. Eight stages. One masterpiece.
An ordinary coin begins with a drawing. The African Range began with a three-metre bronze — and went through a process never seen before.
The bronze
It begins not with a sketch but with a finished work of art: Dylan Lewis’s “Surveying Cheetah III” — born of years of field observation.
The photography
A rigorous photography project explores every conceivable angle of the sculpture until the optimal composition for the circular format is found.
The plaster model
Engraver Duma Mtimkulu translates the sculpture into plaster by hand — more than ten months of consultation and creative reviews until proportion, volume and texture are perfect.
The artist takes over
Dylan Lewis reworks the model with his own hands — every gesture of the original flows directly from the sculptor’s hand into the coin.
Digital integration
Ultra-high-resolution 3D scans merge handcraft and original into a final model under the direction of chief engraver Thinus Scheepers.
CNC & second pass
The model is CNC-cut into plaster again at ultra-high resolution — and the artist refines it once more. A step no standard process includes.
First patterns
April 2024: the first patterns with enhanced relief are struck on copper blanks — proof that the sculptural vision can be minted.
Laser finishing
Stochastic laser frosting with inverted tonality lends the figure raw energy and the landscape atmospheric depth.
„Over 100 years of combined professional experience — in a single model.“
„Perhaps the most detailed model ever produced for South African legal tender.“
The technique
What high relief really means
Hold the coin to the light and you see it at once: shadows travel across muscle and rock, as if the bronze itself stood before you — within the diameter of a palm.
Patterns (copper, April 2024) and unpolished die
↑ Sculptural depth
Markedly higher relief than classic proof coins: the figure rises bodily from the surface — tangible, visible, three-dimensional. Gold is struck to its physical flow limit.
✦ Stochastic laser frosting
Instead of a coarse halftone screen: a stochastic tonal frosting with a strikingly analog feel — fine enough to render atmospheric perspective in the background landscape.
◑ Inverted tonality
A photographically inverted frosting makes the figure and edge details stand proud of the field — raw energy, maximum depth.
The SA Mint has experimented with tonal laser frosting since 2016. The African Range is the culmination of that research.
2026 edition
Strictly limited mintages
The official mintage figures of the entire edition — worldwide. Once sold out, gone forever.
| Metal | Weight | Diameter | Face value | Worldwide mintage | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold 999.9 | 1 kg | 90 mm | 1.000 Rand | 10 | |
| Gold 999.9 | 5 oz | 45 mm | 500 Rand | 50 | |
| Gold 999.9 This coin | 2 oz | 38,65 mm | 200 Rand | 200 | |
| Gold 999.9 | 1 oz (privy mark) | 27 mm | 100 Rand | 50 | |
| Gold 999.9 | 1 oz | 27 mm | 100 Rand | 550 | |
| Gold 999.9 | 1/4 oz | 20 mm | 50 Rand | 2.000 | |
| Silver 999 | 1 kg | 100 mm | 50 Rand | 100 | |
| Silver 999 | 5 oz | 50 mm | 20 Rand | 350 | |
| Silver 999 | 2 oz | 38,65 mm | 10 Rand | 2.000 |
Source: “The African Range” — official companion book of the South African Mint (2025). Mintages of individual dealer editions may differ — the respective product title is authoritative.
Official legal tender
Struck by the South African Mint, a subsidiary of the South African Reserve Bank — with guaranteed authenticity and mintage.
The collection at Kettner
Choose your Act I
From the 2 oz silver coin to the artist edition with bronze statue — seven ways to become part of the hunt. Five issues through 2030 — and every complete collection begins with this first act.
Untamed Gold.
The hunt has begun.
Acts II to V will follow — Act I, however, will never be struck again. Whoever wants to own the whole story begins at its beginning.
2 oz Gold African Range Cheetah 2026 – The Queen of Speed in Pure Precious Metal
- Strictly limited: Only 200 pieces of this extraordinary coin exist worldwide.
- Growth potential: Due to the strict mintage limit and the anticipated high demand, this issue possesses remarkable appreciation potential.
- Rarity: An exceptionally rare collector's coin that captivates even the most experienced connoisseurs.
- Investment appeal: A highly sought-after collector's piece with long-term allure for discerning enthusiasts.
- Minting quality: The highest possible finish in Proof (PP) – a true visual masterpiece.
- Special feature: Striking High Relief minting for an impressive three-dimensional effect and tangible texture.
- Design: The cheetah as a symbol of grace, speed, and untamed African wilderness.
- Material / Fineness: Lustrous fine gold with a purity of 999/1,000.
- Manufacturer: Crafted by the renowned South African Mint.
- Country of origin: South Africa – the cradle of legendary gold coinage.
Some coins are simply currency. This one is a work of art. The 2 oz Gold African Range Cheetah 2026 belongs to those pieces where a single glance reveals: this was struck with true dedication. Anyone searching the exclusive collector's coins category for genuine treasures is likely to lose their heart here – because a mintage of just 200 pieces speaks an unmistakable language.
A Design That Captures the Soul of Africa
The cheetah – the fastest land animal on earth, elegant, powerful, uncompromising. The South African Mint has poured exactly this fascination into the finest gold. The High Relief technique lends the big cat design a sculptural depth that you can almost feel. Every muscle fibre, every spot in the coat, the alert gaze – all of it emerges three-dimensionally through the raised relief minting.
A true rarity is not born by chance, but through deliberate scarcity. With only 200 specimens worldwide, the Cheetah 2026 undoubtedly belongs to this exclusive league.
Proof – Perfection in Every Detail
The Proof finish represents the highest level of the minting art. Mirror-polished surfaces meet frosted relief areas, creating a fascinating interplay of contrasts. This elaborate PP quality is particularly important to collectors – it underscores the exclusive character and makes this collector's coin a centrepiece of any display case. The coin is delivered in an elegant case together with a certificate of authenticity.
Technical Specifications at a Glance
- Precious metal: Gold, fineness 999/1,000
- Fine weight: 31.1 g (2 oz denomination)
- Diameter: 27.00 mm
- Face value: 100 Rand
- Year of issue: 2026
- Condition: Proof
- Mintage: strictly limited to 200 pieces
- Manufacturer: South African Mint, South Africa
Why This Rarity Is So Coveted Among Collectors
Collecting is passion. And passion seeks the extraordinary. Such a very low mintage ensures that this piece will hardly ever be freely available. It is precisely from this limitation that the considerable appreciation potential arises, which connoisseurs so value in strictly limited issues. Furthermore: gold has been a proven store of value with intrinsic worth for over 6,000 years – it is humanity's oldest currency and is exempt from VAT. Those who hold physical gold for at least one year also generally benefit from tax-free disposal.
Beyond the passion for collecting, gold has always offered a reliable inflation hedge and serves many as a proven crisis protection. At the heart of it all, however, is the fascination of collecting. Discover more fine gold coins in our range – and secure one of the rare specimens of this extraordinary African Range issue while stocks last.
Product depiction may differ from the final product.
