Coining a good invention to commemorate World Sight Day
Celebrate World Sight Day with the 'Crown and Tickey' series featuring the retinal cryoprobe
THE South African Mint, a subsidiary of the South African Reserve Bank, will highlight the South African-invented retinal cryoprobe on its 2020 ‘crown and tickey’ series in honour of World Sight Day today (Thursday, 8 October).
The South African Mint has a long tradition of embodying the national genius on its South African inventions’ coin series, launched in 2016.
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This series honours South African inventions and innovation achieving global success, which previously including the dolos, heart transplant surgery, the computerised tomography (CT) scanner and epoxy adhesive.
Highlighting the cause
World Sight Day, celebrated on the second Thursday in October, raises awareness about blindness and vision impairment.
Of the 2.2 billion people suffering from vision impairment globally, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness states a billion cases are preventable.
The retinal cryoprobe, a large, pen-like instrument used in cryosurgery to treat cataracts, was first commercialised by ophthalmologist and biomedical engineer, Dr Selig Percy Amoils in 1965, during his time at Soweto’s Baragwanath Hospital.
The condition ‘posterior capsular opacification’ (cataract) is the world’s leading cause of blindness, accounting for approximately 42% of all cases.
In South Africa, it’s the leading cause of blindness according to the South African Optometric Association.
Yet cataract surgery is one of the most common procedures worldwide and considered among the most successful treatments in all of medicine.
Honouring innovation
South African Mint Managing Director, Honey Mamabolo, said the ongoing series pays homage to pioneering efforts of South Africans.
‘Innovation and disruption are two sides of the same coin,’ she said.
‘The retinal cryoprobe has played a key role in improving the quality of life of many around the world.’
Only 1 000 of the sterling-silver R2 crown coins, and 1 000 of the sterling-silver 2½ c tickey coins have been minted.
A combination set, consisting of the two coins and a sterling-silver miniature sculpture of the eye, packaged in a beautiful piano-finish varnish walnut wood box, is also available.
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