Written by Russel Perry , New Business Development Manager
South Africa has a very tumultuous and eventful history of colonialism, wars and conflict. Few tangible historic items from these eras survive over time, except coins.
Notwithstanding all the challenges, coins were continuously minted throughout these times and due to the material and value, were kept intact for decades.
Being able to own a coin that may once have been handled by Paul Kruger or a Boer fighting for his identity and existence, some 125 years, ago is truly special. One can almost sense the events of the time and can only wonder what such a coin may have been through in its lifetime.
Several ZAR coins were minted under the most challenging circumstances and because of historical eventful reasons, making them that much more remarkable and collectable.
The Veldpond
This coin gets its name from the “veld” or grassland in which the coins were minted on a manual minting press, near Pilgrim’s Rest.
The reason for this was that the SA Mint had been taken over and occupied by British forces and coins needed to continue to be produced to pay the troops and keep the struggle alive in the eyes of the people.
A die had to be hand made and the design is therefore unique and very distinctive in that one can clearly see the imperfections due to the manual production of the hand-carved die used to mint the coin.
Due to the manual minting process it is also said that no two of these coins are 100% identical adding to their exclusivity and appeal.
The intrinsic gold, the design, the history and the allegory all add up to it being one of the most remarkable coins ever minted in South Africa.
Most collectors of coins from the era do not consider their collection complete without a Veldpond.
Hand struck after the Boer forces had been driven out of Pretoria. These coins were minted in the veld, hence their name.
The Double 9 can be seen just below Paul Kruger's effigy.
The Double 9 and Single 9
In 1899 the Kruger Pond minting dies were intercepted en route from Berlin, by the British forces in what was then-called Lourenzo Marques, now known as Maputo in Mozambique.
This may seem like a relatively insignificant event however one must remember that at the time these dies carried with them the ability to produce coins for the Boer republic thus announcing their ongoing ability to fight on and defend themselves against the colonial invaders. Creating and producing dies for coin minting was a very specialised process and not easily replicated without the right machinery and equipment which the Boers did not have.
To make matters worse, getting another set of dies through the same channels would take much time as they would be sent by ship and there was always going to be the possibility that they would be intercepted again.
Paul Kruger then came up with a brilliant idea. To mark the wartime reopening of the mint, it was decided to use existing Ponde dated 1898 and overstamp them with a 99 below Paul Kruger’s bust to annotate them as 1899. The first stamping attempt proved to be a problem as the “9”
punch proved to be too big and touched the rim of the coin and overlapped the image of Paul Kruger’s bust, so a smaller die had to be used.
This single “failed attempt” coin with the bigger 9 stamped on it, is arguably South Africa’s most valuable coin as there is only one. This specific coin has achieved over R40 million at auctions and is currently in the hands of a South African collector.
Another 130 of the 1898 Ponde were then produced with the smaller pair of nines measuring about 1.1mm and are known as the ’99 overstamps’. The coins therefore have 1898 stamped on the reverse in the traditional position around the circumference of the coin and the “99” stamped on the obverse under Paul Kruger’s bust. A very rare numismatic occurrence even internationally. These coins are exceptionally rare.
The 1892 Single Shaft and Double Shaft Pond
Errors made in the design of the Ponde and crowns of 1892 almost cost Paul Kruger the presidential election and could have had a huge impact on the history of our country.
In 1891, with the election coming up and with President Kruger facing strong opposition, he was pressed for time and anxious to bring the Republic’s new coins into circulation. The new Mint was not yet operating so the President placed an order for coins dated 1892 to be minted at the Kaisermunt in Berlin, Germany.
The first consignment of Ponde, half Ponde and crowns arrived with several errors. An image of a European gypsy wagon was on the coat of arms and not the much bigger ox wagon as was used by the Boers. A gypsy wagon is smaller than an ox wagon and has a double shaft protruding from the front to straddle a donkey or pony instead of an ox wagon which has a single shaft alongside which pairs of oxen were hitched. In addition, a gypsy wagon has four equal-sized wheels as it travelled on relatively flat smooth roads while an ox wagon which travelled over uncharted territory, has smaller wheels in the front to navigate rough terrain and bigger wheels at the back to ensure a smoother ride for the families and goods. Gipsies were also notorious and of ill repute and not the kind of association one would want for a president of the Boer Republic.
Furthermore the German designer of the images, Otto Schultz stamped his initials O.S. underneath Paul Kruger’s bust as was customary. In Afrikaans “OS” translates to “OX”…a rather insulting comparison.
These two errors were later corrected but not before several coins arrived with the incorrect imagery and Paul Kruger’s contenders in the election had a field day with it, almost costing him the election. The ‘offensive’ coins had received so much publicity that many were kept as mementoes. Subsequently the errors were corrected and the revised dies were used going forward.
As such there are two different coins of the year 1892 often referred to as the single and double shaft coins.
The minting of coins under these very trying yet critical times serves as a testament to the tenacity of the people who were determined to fight on and never give up no matter what the circumstances.
It also reminds us of the value and importance of coins throughout history and why they are so sought after and collectible.
Owning one of these coins means you own a piece of history.