The African Cape Buffalo is the last of the animals featured on this popular Big 5 coin series since its debut in 2019. The South African Mint celebrates Africa’s precious wildlife by embodying the strength and beauty of the Big Five in this series of legal tender coins.
African Buffalo are sociable animals with herds of up to several hundred individuals often observed. These herds might splinter into smaller units in times of drought.
Primarily preyed upon by lions, when a herd member is attacked, other Buffalos will rush to its defence. Together a number of buffalo are more than capable to ward off an attack by an entire pride of lions. A wounded buffalo bull is regarded as most dangerous by hunters, which is one of the main reasons why this animal is included into the big five. This characteristic is the origin of many hunting adventures, myths and legends.
The “Big Five” term originated when big game hunters visited the shores of Africa to shoot for trophies, and locals warned them about the five most dangerous animals in Africa: the Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Rhino and Buffalo.
The obverse features a breath-taking design of the Cape buffalo, which fills up much of the surface area of the coin. The words ‘South Africa’, ‘Big 5 2021’ appear below the image, with the national coat-of-arms in the centre signifying its legal tender status.
 
This two coin set includes a 2021 1oz fine-silver proof Big 5 coin featuring the buffalo, together with a 2021 1oz fine-silver Krugerrand with a buffalo as a privy mark on the reverse.
All the sets in this series are packaged in a beautiful a lacquered finished wooden box bearing a digital print of the unforgivable Buffalo on the lid.
Limited edition: 1 000