5 oz Silver African Range Cheetah 2026 (Mintage: 350 | High Relief | Proof)
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Strictly limited to only 350 pieces worldwide – a true rarity for connoisseurs and collectors- Proof in High Relief – mirror-polished, sculptural and razor-sharp
- 155.52 g of purest silver with high appreciation potential due to strict limited mintage
- Extremely limited: With a worldwide mintage of only 350 pieces, this cheetah ranks among the rarest new releases of this minting year – a true rarity
- The pinnacle of minting: Proof meets High Relief – mirror-polished fields and sculptural depth merge into pure minting artistry
- Great value potential: 155.52 g of purest silver (999) plus strict limited mintage ensure enormous collector demand and appreciation opportunities
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 This coin | 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.
5 oz Silver African Range Cheetah 2026 – A World First in High Relief
Strictly limited: An extremely low mintage of only 350 pieces worldwide – a true rarity for connoisseurs.
Growth potential: High appreciation potential due to the strict limitation and enormous collector demand.
Minting quality: The highest possible minting in Proof (PP) – mirror-polished fields meet razor-sharp contours.
Special feature: Elaborate High Relief minting for an impressive depth effect and sculptural tactile quality.
Design: The stalking cheetah – the world's fastest land animal – in a breathtaking, three-dimensional representation.
Material / Fineness: Purest silver with a fineness of 999/1,000 and an impressive fine weight of 155.52 g.
Investment objective: Rare collector's coin with great performance potential.
Manufacturer: Minted by the renowned South African Mint.
Country of origin: South Africa – home of the "Big Five" and the "African Range".
Sometimes precious metal meets pure art. This coin is one of those moments. With the 5 oz silver African Range Cheetah 2026, the South African Mint presents a true world first – a collector's coin that has never existed in this form before. And since only 350 pieces exist worldwide, it is undoubtedly one of the most coveted new releases of this minting year.
The Cheetah – Speed, Cast in Silver
Anyone who picks up this coin immediately senses it: no expense was spared here. The design shows the cheetah in full concentration, poised to leap, coiled like a spring. Thanks to the High Relief minting, the animal virtually emerges from the coin's surface – the musculature, the spotted coat, the watchful gaze. It is this three-dimensional depth that makes true collectors' hearts beat faster.
A Proof in High Relief is the pinnacle of coin minting – mirror brilliance and sculptural depth in a single work of art.
Why the Mintage of Only 350 Pieces Is So Special
Limitation is everything in the collector's market. While common bullion coins are minted in the millions, this issue with a mintage of only 350 pieces is a truly exceptional phenomenon. Those who act here are not simply securing silver – but a strictly limited piece of minting artistry whose rarity is virtually unmatched.
Fine weight: 155.52 g of purest silver (999/1,000)
Diameter: 38.60 mm
Face value: 10 Rand
Condition: Proof (PP)
Delivery: In an elegant case with certificate of authenticity
Silver That Is More Than a Precious Metal
Silver has captivated humanity for thousands of years – as a monetary metal, as a symbol of wealth and prestige, as a tangible asset in uncertain times. Those who invest in physical silver coins hold a tangible asset with intrinsic value in their hands. A pleasant side effect: profits from the sale of silver are generally tax-free after a holding period of at least one year.
Even though this coin is clearly conceived as a rarity for collectors, it combines the best of both worlds: artistic exclusivity and the substance of an enduring precious metal. In addition, physical silver serves many investors as a solid inflation hedge and crisis protection – aspects that, given the extraordinary rarity of this coin, are more of a welcome bonus.
Who Should Consider This Cheetah
This collector's coin is a must for anyone who follows the "African Range", loves animal designs, or simply seeks the extraordinary. With such a strict limitation, supply is likely to be exhausted quickly – and therein lies the great appreciation potential. Those who hesitate may soon find themselves empty-handed. Act now, while this magnificent predator is still available.
Product depiction may differ from the final product.