2 oz Silver African Range Cheetah 2026 (Mintage: 2,000 | High Relief | Proof)
- Vivid design: leaping big cat
- From South Africa: South African Mint
- Authenticity proven: certificate and case
- Vivid designFur, muscles and bared teeth against the savanna
- From South AfricaStruck by the storied South African Mint
- Authenticity provenDelivered in a premium case with certificate of 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 | 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 This coin | 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 Silver African Range Cheetah 2026 – A Majestic World Premiere from South Africa
Strictly limited: Very low mintage of only 2,000 pieces worldwide – a true rarity
Mint quality: Highest possible finish in Proof (PP)
Special feature: Impressive High Relief minting for a three-dimensional depth effect and extraordinary tactile experience
Design: A razor-sharp cheetah – the fastest land animal in the world – captured in full elegance and dynamism
Investment objective: Rare collector's coin with high appreciation potential
Material / Fineness: 2 ounces of fine silver with premium fineness of 999/1,000 (62.21 g fine weight)
Manufacturer: Minted by the renowned South African Mint
Country of origin: South Africa – home of the "Big Cats"
Some coins simply make a collector's heart beat faster. The popular collector's coin with a very low mintage from the new African Range captivates at first glance – and continues to do so. With only 2,000 pieces worldwide, this issue belongs to those treasures you don't come across every day. Those who act now secure a genuine piece of South African minting artistry.
The Cheetah – Speed Captured in Silver
The design is a delight for every lover of artistic silver coins. The cheetah, the fastest sprinter of the savannah, has been rendered with the finest details: the spotted coat, the watchful eyes, the tensed musculature just before the sprint. Thanks to the High Relief technique, the animal appears almost alive, as if it might leap from the coin at any moment. This elevated relief minting lends the piece a depth and plasticity that only few coins achieve.
A cheetah in Proof and High Relief – this is no mere investment product, it is captured minting artistry on two ounces of fine silver.
Why the Limited Mintage Makes All the Difference
The mintage of only 2,000 pieces makes this issue a pronounced rarity. Collectors know: the more strictly limited a coin, the more sought-after it becomes over time. This is precisely where the high appreciation potential lies hidden – a low quantity meets a growing demand for premium wildlife designs from South Africa. With comparable series such as Krugerrand special editions or other High Relief mintings, it is repeatedly demonstrated just how highly collectors value strictly limited pieces.
Premium Craftsmanship Down to the Finest Detail
This extraordinary collector's coin was minted by the storied South African Mint – a name synonymous with the highest quality. The result is a Proof coin with mirrored surfaces and frosted design elements that masterfully accentuate the contrast.
Diameter: an impressive 50.00 mm
Face value: 10 Rand
Condition: Proof (highest mint quality)
Delivered in a premium case including certificate of authenticity
Silver That Connects Collectors
Pure silver has captivated people for millennia – as a monetary metal, as a symbol of wealth, and as a lasting store of value. Incidentally, profits from the sale of silver are generally tax-free after a holding period of one year. While other pieces are primarily focused on inflation hedge or crisis protection, this issue shines above all as a collector's trophy. It is made for those who love the exceptional – the rare beauty that true connoisseurs appreciate.
Act now while this cheetah treasure from its very low mintage is still available – for what exists only 2,000 times may well be gone tomorrow.
Product depiction may differ from the final product.
