Jardines Galleries · A symbol & its century-and-a-half on South African coinage
The South African Pound Symbol £
From the Roman libra to Witwatersrand — the story of the £ as it travelled into South Africa, became a sometimes-distinct currency in its own right (£SA), held against sterling for most of the Union era, broke briefly during the 1931–1933 gold-standard crisis, and was retired on 14 February 1961 in favour of the Rand. For collectors, the symbol is the single fastest way to identify a pre-decimal piece — a £ on a coin or note means South Africa, before the change.
The L with the crossbar
Latin libra · ~327 g · A scribal abbreviation since medieval timesThe £ derives from the letter L, standing for libra — the Roman unit of weight, approximately 327 grams. In British currency, it originally denoted one pound weight of sterling silver, from which 240 silver pennies could be struck. The horizontal crossbar (sometimes two) is a medieval scribal mark that distinguished the abbreviation from a plain capital letter.
The 240 pennies, the pound weight, and the L-with-crossbar travelled together for a thousand years before the £ landed at the Cape in 1825.
Pond, then Rand
Cape Colony · ZAR · Union · DecimalisationIn 1825 sterling became legal tender across the British colonies — the £ symbol arrived in Cape Town and stayed for 136 years. The ZAR issued the only Boer republic gold coinage in 1892, denominating in "Pond"; the Union of 1910 inherited the symbol; and from 1921 the South African Reserve Bank distinguished it as £SA when needed.
Decimalisation arrived on 14 February 1961. The Rand replaced the Pound at R2 = £1, and the £ vanished from circulation — leaving behind, on every pre-decimal coin and note, an instant identifier of the era.
Five steps from libra to Rand
Origins of the £ symbol
Roman libra · Medieval scribes · British silverThe pound symbol £ derives from the letter L, standing for libra — the Roman unit of weight (approximately 327 grams). In British currency, it originally denoted one pound weight of sterling silver, from which 240 silver pennies could be struck. The connection between the unit of weight and the unit of money is therefore literal rather than symbolic: a pound of money meant, for centuries, exactly that — a pound of silver.
The £ sign itself is a capital L with one or two crossbars — a scribal abbreviation in use since medieval times. The crossbar served the same function as the dot above an "i" or the bar above a Roman numeral: it told the reader "this letter is doing duty for a longer word." The longer word, in this case, was always libra.
The pound in South Africa
1825 – 1961 · A 136-year spanEleven dates that carry the £ through its South African life — from the 1825 imperial order-in-council that made sterling legal tender at the Cape, through the ZAR pond era and the founding of the Reserve Bank, to the 14 February 1961 handover to the Rand.
- 1825 Imperial order-in-council makes sterling coinage legal tender in all British colonies. The pound sterling becomes the official currency of the Cape Colony, replacing the Dutch rijksdaalder.
- 1892 The Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek begins issuing its own coins and notes, denominated in pond (Afrikaans for pound). Gold coins bear the inscription "Een Pond" — a distinctive feature for collectors. See the Pretoria Mint.
- 1899 – 1902 Anglo-Boer War. Siege currencies appear at Mafeking, Kimberley, and Krugersdorp, all denominated in pounds. The ZAR coinage halts at war's end.
- 1910 Union of South Africa established. The pound remains the currency, now spanning the four former colonies under a single political authority.
- 1921 The South African Reserve Bank is established. The first central bank in the southern hemisphere; from this point, the symbol £SA is sometimes used to distinguish the South African pound from sterling, particularly in international financial contexts.
- 19 April 1922 The SARB issues its first banknotes — denominations of 10/–, £1, £5, £20 and £100. Bilingual, English and Afrikaans.
- 1923 The Union begins striking its own coins — denominations from ¼d to 2½ shillings, plus gold sovereigns and half sovereigns at the Pretoria Mint. The full £sd system in active South African production.
- September 1931 The United Kingdom departs the gold standard. South Africa's Hertzog government insists on remaining on gold — the only Commonwealth country to do so for any length of time.
- December 1932 South Africa is forced off gold. The pound returns to parity with sterling. See the Gold Standard page for the full crisis.
- 1948 Two banknote variants emerge — English-first and Afrikaans-first versions of the same denominations. A small typographic distinction that becomes a major collecting variable.
- 14 February 1961 Decimalisation. The Rand — named for the Witwatersrand — replaces the Pound at R2 = £1. The £ symbol disappears from circulation; from this point it is an identifier of the pre-decimal era only.
The gold-standard break with sterling
For most of its existence, the South African pound remained at par with sterling. The single significant exception followed Britain's departure from the gold standard in September 1931. Hertzog's government insisted on remaining on gold — a decision driven by nationalist sentiment and the importance of South African gold exports to the national economy.
The consequence was dramatic. The South African pound appreciated sharply against sterling, which crippled the gold export industry that the policy was supposed to protect. By December 1932, the position was untenable; Hertzog was forced to abandon gold, and the pound returned to parity with sterling shortly afterwards. The full crisis is told on the Gold Standard page.
Collecting significance
Five categories where the £ appearsThe presence of the £ symbol instantly identifies pre-decimal items — anything dated before 14 February 1961. Five categories cover the working ground for a collector building a £-era set.
ZAR gold & silver
1892 – 1902Look for "Pond" on gold and "Shillings" on silver. Key varieties include the 1892 double shaft and the rare 1898 Sammy Marks Tickey.
Private banknotes
Pre – 1922Issued by banks such as the National Bank of the ZAR; denominations in pounds. Survives in fewer numbers than the SARB notes that replaced them.
First SARB notes
1922 – 196110/–, £1, £5, £20 and £100, bilingual in English and Afrikaans. From 1948 two language-order variants exist — English first or Afrikaans first.
Siege currency
1899 – 1902Notes issued during the Boer War, including Mafeking, Kimberley, and the famous Krugersdorp notes. Pound denominations on emergency-issue paper — survival rates low, prices high.
Union coinage
1923 – 1960From farthings to half crowns, all carrying the £sd denominations. Gold sovereigns and half sovereigns were struck until 1932, the year SA left the gold standard.
Transition to the Rand
14 February 1961 · The day the £ retiredFrom the Witwatersrand, a new currency
On 14 February 1961, South Africa decimalised. The new currency was named the Rand — derived from "Witwatersrand", the ridge where most of the country's gold deposits were found. The choice of name carried its own message: where the £ pointed to libra and Rome and the colonial inheritance, the Rand pointed at the goldfields under South Africa's own feet.
The exchange rate was set at R2 = £1. The symbol became the capital R, placed before the numeral. The £ rapidly disappeared from circulation — but on every pre-decimal coin and note that survives, it remains the single fastest identifier of the era before the change.
- South African pound — Wikipedia.
- Britannica — Rand currency entry.
- Sunday Times — History of the common monetary area.
- African News Agency — SARB 100 years of banknotes.
- South African pound — TheFreeDictionary.
- Hern, Brian — Standard Catalogue of South African Coins, Medals and Tokens, annual editions.
- Cross-references: The Gold Standard, 1931–1933, The Pretoria Mint, Historical Timeline.