ZAR

(KRUGER)

PONDE

In 1891, The Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek passed the ‘Mint Act’. This lead to the Republic’s own coinage.

The currency was based on the British coinage of the time: The Pound and Half Pound in gold; the Crown, Half Crown, Florin, Shilling, Sixpence and Tickey in silver; Penny, Half Penny and Quarter Penny in bronze. The last two coins were never minted and the weight of the coins was identical to that of their British counterparts.

It was a time of great pressure for President Kruger as it was time for re-election.

He had two challengers who were well regarded throughout the republic. They were General Joubert and Chief Justice Kotze.

President Kruger came up with what he thought was a brilliant strategy. He decided that the quick introduction of coins into the republic would be an excellent public-relations maneuver. With his image on the coins, it would make him appear more Presidential than ever and he would be in the running for re-election.

His opponents were also quick to point out that on the obverse of the coin, you could see the letters ‘OS’ on President Kruger’s bust. ‘OS’ is a Dutch word for ox. They started telling the constituents that this stood for “Dumb-ox Kruger”. The letters which appeared were in fact the coin-die engraver’s initials, Mr. Otto Shultz. He had followed the customary procedure of placing his initials on the dies which is still done today.

President Kruger immediately went into damage control. He had a very fierce temper and did not like being called an ox! He decided to recall all the coins in order to prevent any further damage. When people heard that the coin was being recalled, they were in even greater demand than before. Very few of the coins were ever returned. The initials ‘OS’ were removed from the new coins and alterations to the coat of arms were made.

Fortunately for President Kruger, he recovered from his coin mishap and won the election by the very thinnest of margins. The corrected ponde were struck without any changes from 1893 – 1900. It can easily be summated that the Krugerpond of the ZAR highlights some of our countries most significant history and events. Coins are often referred to as being the capsules of time, as they chart and recount the history, events and times during the days of their minting.

The 1892 Kruger Ponde which portray the incorrect or continental ox wagon are commonly referred to as the “1892 double shaft” Kruger pond, and the corrected een pond which depicts the Boer ox wagon, is spoken of as the “1892 single shaft” Kruger pond. Unlike with most coin errors, the single shaft pond which is the correct version is more sought after and therefore more valuable than the double shaft pond due to the fact that very few 1892 single shaft Kruger ponde were in fact minted. A total of 15650 “1892 double shaft” ponde were minted, while the mintages of the “1892 single shaft” Kruger ponde are unknown. Very few  “1892 single shaft” or “double shaft” ponde are known to have survived the centuries, as a large number of these coins were damaged or destroyed over the years. When one looks at the amount of 1892 ponde to have been graded by the most popular grading companies namely “NGC” , “PCGS”  and SANGS, only 700 “1892 double shaft” een ponde are known to have been graded while a mere 207 of the “1892 single shaft” Kruger ponde are on record to have been graded.