According to a recent episode of Carte Blanche, the Mandela Coin, which was recently sold for R2 500 000, is worth R5.
People who are collecting and investing in these coins, might not agree with these findings, convinced that the Mandela coins are worth thousands, or even millions of rands but, according to Carte Blanche, various investors have never seen their returns.
Potchefstroom Herald spoke to two Potchefstroomers with a collection of Mandela Coins. Franco Joubert is one of these collectors and decided to use his collection of Mandela coins to create art. He has been collecting Nelson Mandela R5 coins for seven years, knowing that they will someday be worth a lot. Over the years, he managed to collect a total of 170 of these coins while working at a pay point for several years.
Franco is convinced that these coins are worth thousands since Nelson Mandela is one of the most popular heroes in the world. Some of the dates on his coins are very rare and nearly nowhere to be found.
“Mr. Mandela was someone to look up to,” says Joubert, “he was able to forgive and forget after 27 years in jail”.
He decided not to sell the remainder of his coins, but rather use it to create a classic modern artwork of Nelson Mandela’s face. He then wants to sell it in the USA, saying that everyone is allowed to dream.
Joubert and a friend are also designing Nelson Mandela T-shirts that they are selling to commemorate this hero.
Another Mandela Coin ‘dealer’ named Pieter, collected his Mandela coins while working as a car guard in Potchefstroom. He is now selling his coins for R400 – R500 each. He sold six coins at once. According to Pieter, he sold them to a buyer who drove from Johannesburg to Potchefstroom to get their hands on the coins.
If Carte Blanche claims that these coins are worth nothing, then why are people buying them? Carte Blanche did case studies with coin buyers who didn’t see the return on their investments and claim they have been scammed by the SA Coin Corporation.
We decided to speak to chairman and CEO of SA Coin Corporation, Mark Andersen, to get his insights on whether or not the Mandela R5 Coin is only a myth. According to him, Carte Blanche gave him an interview that lasted one hour and twenty minutes, yet they only gave him 30 seconds in terms of a reply.
“The Mandela R5 coins are the fastest appreciating rare coins in the world and yes, they are most certainly worth something,” he says.
Andersen, who has been dealing with coins for 28 years, has been selling Mandela R5 coins for 11 years now. There are 1 360 advertised Mandela Coins on Bid or Buy at the moment, priced up to R75 000.
“How can it be a scam if there are hundreds of sellers on Bid or Buy?” asks Andersen, worried that the Carte Blanche episode was an attack from their competitors, to make SA Coin Corporation seem corrupt. “We’ve been hammered by Carte Blanche and our competitors. We have a record of some of SA’s rarest coins and we know, therefore, what we are doing,” he says.
So why did the case studies on the episode of Carte Blanche not see any return on their investment? According to Andersen, it is because of the current global recession. He explains that investments everywhere are struggling to return their profit because of the bad economic climate.
“This is the worst recession I have seen in my 25 years of dealing with coins,” he says, “I cannot control the market and cannot be blamed by people who gets ugly when they are in urgent need of money.”
He says this is a bad time for any investment to see its returns, but when the economic climate changes, these coins will, without a doubt, see the return on investment they deserve.
“There is no doubt that these Mandela Coins are worth thousands,” he says.
Andersen believes Carte Blanche and his competitors attacked him by claiming that he is scamming the public by selling these coins. But, he says, he has nothing to hide, and the people who know him also know that he is a good person who would never scam anyone.