Brief Ghana History
Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. A long series of coups resulted in the suspension of Ghana's third constitution in 1981 and a ban on political parties. A new constitution, restoring multiparty politics, was approved in 1992. Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS, head of state since 1981, won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. John KUFUOR, who defeated former Vice President John ATTA-MILLS in a free and fair election, succeeded him.

Ghana Gold Coins
Ghana issued its first coins in 1958, following the existing British system, 12 pence = 1 shilling, and 20 shillings = 1 pound. Interestingly, Krause fails to mention pounds, and also fails to state the denominations within the decimal system.
In 1967, Ghana adopted a decimal currency system, with 100 Pesewas = 1 Cedi.
The word Cedi is from an Akan word meaning cowrie shell, and due to inflation, until recently when the Cedi was due to be revalued, the value of a cowrie shell may have been higher than that of a Cedi!
Ghana has also issued coins denominated in Sika, and although we know that the word sika means "money", we cannot find the relationship between the sika and the cedi, Krause omits this information.

Bog Standard Coins
We also found it intriguing to note that the Bank of Ghana, based in its capital Accra, has the abbreviation BOG. Perhaps this has not assisted the declining value of the currency, which some wags would comment has been going down the toilet!
We found further food for thought when we came across the following fascinating piece of information in Wikipedia:

The cedi sign is not to be confused with the colón sign ₡. The cedi symbol resembles the cent sign (˘), but it is taller, narrower, and its bar is vertical, not diagonal. The symbol was accepted for encoding in Unicode as U+20B5 &U+20B5; in 2004. However, because many fonts do not provide this character, the cent sign is often used as a replacement for the cedi.

Descriptions
2002 Golden Jubilee 500 Sika
Obverse
The obverse features an attractive colour printed portrait of the Queen, and the inscription:-
HM QUEEN ELIZABETH II GOLDEN JUBILEE A COMMONWEALTH TRIBUTE
1952 2002
Reverse
The reverse shows St George and the dragon. The legend reads:-
I WILL BEAR UNTO YOU FAITH AND TRUTH
2002
GHANA 500 SIKA

Technical Specifications

Denomination	Diameter	Weight	Fineness	Gold Content
500 Sika	22	5*	.3750	.0606*

Notes on Table
Diameter = Diameter in millimetres.
Weight = Gross weight in grams.
Fineness = purity of gold alloy.
Gold Content = Actual gold content in troy ounces.
* According to the certificate, but Krause states the gross weight as 4.95 grams, and the AGW = 0.0597 troy ounces.

State Secret Certificates
Although these coins do not always come with a box and Certificate of Authenticity, the certificate we have seen with one of these coins fails to state who issued the certificate. This seems to be an increasingly common omission in recent years. It tends to occur more frequently in the case of "borderline" coins, such as this coin struck in 9 carat gold (22 carat is more normal), as if whoever issued them is too ashamed of them to put their name to things!
Our view is that an anonymous certificate is next to worthless.

Prices & Availability
Please telephone for current prices and availability.
The $ prices are subject to exchange rate fluctuations.

Date	Denomination	Description	Grade	Issue Limit	Mintage	Grade	Availability	Price £	Price $
2002	500 Sika	Queen's Golden Jubilee	Proof, FDC	10,000	10,000	Proof, almost FDC	Yes	£85	$99

Postage & Packing
UK Registered Post (Special Delivery) £9 per order
EU Insured Post £10 per order
USA Airmail $10 per order
USA Insured Shipping $20 per order

Coins Wanted
We make an active market in almost all world coins, gold or otherwise, including Ghanaian coins. If you have any of these coins to sell, please contact us, or post them to us for appraisal and offer.

Ghana Silver and Base Metal Coins
For silver and base metal coins of Ghana, please look at our original Chard Coins website.