The sparrow is one of the smallest and most abundant birds in the world, appearing in Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa and Australia in one form or another. So when the South African Mint first started designing and minting their first circulating coins in 1923, it seems only somehow fitting that the Cape Sparrow made it's way onto the smallest and most abundant denomination of coin produced for the country.

The farthing or quarter penny coin was the smallest denomination coin produced, and though it's mintage figures were limited in those early years, in later years it grew to claim some of the highest mintage figures in pre-decimal South Africa with millions struck each year.

The design of the farthing coin itself features two Cape Sparrows, facing each other while clinging to a Mimosa plant. This was the first coin to feature the bird, but would be the beginning of an almost century long staple of South African coin design.

The Sparrow is seen as a symbol of love and forgiveness in many cultures. In ancient Greece it was the sacred bird of the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, and represented her spiritual side – true love instead of merely lust. The ancient Egyptians also had a hieroglyph depicting a sparrow that was used to describe something as “narrow” or “small”.

In the case of the South African quarter penny coin though the designer, Kruger Gray, drew inspiration from a well known bible verse. Matthew 10:29;

“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.” (KJV)

And so the farthing was in circulation with this same design until 1960 when the Union of South Africa became the Republic of South Africa. No longer a British colony, the country discarded the older imperial system(pennies, shillings and pounds) in favour for the simplified decimal system(Rands and cents).

Again the dual Cape Sparrows adorned the smallest denomination of coin in the new transitional coinage. This time the yellow copper half cent coin, which was in circulation between 1961 and 1964. Between these four dates nearly 80 million 1/2cent coins were minted and entered circulation in an attempt to replace the now outdated quarter and half penny coins with newer decimal coins.

Then came 1965 and the second decimal coin series entered circulation. The half cent coin fell away and so a more modern representation of two sparrows appeared on the 1 cent coin, which was for the time being the smallest denomination in circulation.

However, public demand for a smaller denomination coin persisted and then in 1970 the half cent coin was re-introduced. This time sporting a slightly reworked version of the 1 cent coin's design from the same series.

Interestingly enough, though the 1/2c coin remained in circulation and was produced until 1983, every coin minted for circulation bore the 1970 date. 1971 to 1983 coins were only minted as numismatic products for proof and uncirculated sets. Almost as if the mint was noting it's silent protest to having to produce such a small coin at all.

The next part of this story jumps ahead to 1990. The county was in the midst of sweeping political and social change, and the introduction of the 3rd decimal coin series was some of the first tangible results of this. The new 1 cent coin again features a more modern or realistic version of the original 1923 sparrow design.

But times do change and so too must the coins we use every day. Just as the farthing fell away with decimalization, and the half cent coin was demonitized with time. So too, the smallest denominations simply became too expensive to produce. With the one and two cent coins costing multiple times their face value to produce, and serving little but a token value in every day commerce, the decision was taken to discontinue their use in 2001.

Having overseen nearly 80 years of history, forming a daily part of the lives of million, in 2001 the humble sparrow disappeared from South African coins. Existing today only as a part of many a coin collection and numismatic discussions such as this.