Description

“Staatsmunt Te Velde” (1902)

The Mint was forced to close when the British forces occupied Pretoria in 1900. The one pound gold blanks that were in storage at the time were used for the payment of State expenditure by the Boers. They were named “naked pounds”.

An attempt was made to establish a mint at an abandon goldmine near Pilgrims Rest. Soft hand-cut dies and an improvised flypress were used to strike Pound pieces of pure gold to the intrinsic value of 22 shillings.

The “veldponde” (field pounds) were exchanged for the burgers’ (citizen’s) British sovereigns. This facilitated trading with the local residents who would only accept the “coin with the horse on it”. After many trials, 986 coins were minted with a single set of dies.

Ironically striking was actually completed a few days after the Boers had conceded victory to the British forces. The “veldpond” is amongst the most precious historical treasures a collector could hope to possess and there have been many known forgeries.

After the Anglo Boer War the British currency became legal tender in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. British currency was the accepted currency in South Africa when the four provinces became the Union of South Africa in 1910.