Jardines Galleries · Treasure Discoveries
South African Coin Hoards.
Coin hoards in South Africa are infrequent, and the details are often vague. This page assembles the verified discoveries — from ancient Mediterranean coins buried in Pondoland for over a thousand years to a modern parcel of Kruger gold returned from a Swiss vault in 2021 — and treats each as the small archaeological event it really is.
The Pondoland Hoard
c. 1893 · Fort Grosvenor, Eastern CapeIn October 1897, G.F. Hill of the British Museum reported an astonishing find made approximately four years earlier near Fort Grosvenor (Port Grosvenor) in Pondoland. While excavating the site of what had been a Bantu hut, workers searching for treasure came upon a calabash some ten feet below the surface. It crumbled in their hands, revealing a collection of ancient bronze coins.
The coins ended up in the collection of Mr. Thomas Cook, a businessman from East Pondoland who had been present at the excavation and could testify that they were all found together. The hoard comprised at least 28 coins spanning more than 1,200 years — Greek, Roman, and Byzantine. Its current whereabouts are unknown.
The Lost Hoard
2021 · Swiss vault → SA MintIn 2021, the South African Mint announced the discovery of a large parcel of Kruger ponds that had been stored in the Netherlands in the early 20th century, transferred to Switzerland for safekeeping before World War II, and remained in a Swiss vault for decades. The coins were eventually sold at auction and acquired by the SA Mint.
Each piece was independently graded and certified by NGC Florida, confirming authenticity, legal-tender status (1893–1900), and correct weight. Two limited editions were released, paired with privy-marked 2019 Krugerrands, with packaging that included a replica of the original money bag in which the coins had remained hidden for over a century.
Inside the Pondoland Hoard
Three layers · Three theoriesThe Pondoland hoard's strangeness is in its chronological span. The 28-plus coins fell into three distinct groups separated by centuries of distance — three layers of the ancient Mediterranean world that should not have been buried together at the bottom of the Eastern Cape. The contents are documented; the explanation is not.
Three coins from the Ptolemaic Empire, the ancient Greek state based in Egypt from 305 BC until the death of Cleopatra in 30 AD. The earliest pieces in the hoard.
Coins from the period following Diocletian's monetary reform (AD 296) through the reign of Maximinus II (AD 313). Identified examples include Diocletian, Maximinus I, Constantius I, Galeria Valeria, and Maximinus II.
Three Byzantine coins, one of Emperor John I (969–976 AD). This Byzantine layer extends the date range of the hoard by over 600 years beyond the Roman pieces.
The coins may have belonged to a passenger on the Grosvenor (wrecked 1782) or another early ship, and were buried by survivors. A wrecked-ship origin would account for a single owner with an eclectic ancient cabinet.
J.F. Schofield suggested the coins arrived via Arab traders operating along the East African coast in the medieval period — explaining the late Byzantine layer alongside the older Greco-Roman material.
Professor Raymond Dart speculated about ancient Mediterranean voyages to Southern Africa — the most contested of the three theories, but the one that takes the hoard's evidence at face value.
Pondoland is not isolated. Other ancient coins have surfaced in South Africa: a Hebraic coin of Simon Maccabaeus (143–136 BC) was found 26 miles from Durban during construction at Marianhill monastery, and coins from the reigns of the Delhi emperors have been reported recovered from the Grosvenor wreck site itself. None of these is a hoard in the technical sense — but they sit in the same documentary tradition of inexplicable ancient currency surfacing on the southern African coast.
The Kruger Millions hoards
Gold lost during the Anglo-Boer WarThe legend of the Kruger Millions — the gold reserves of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, allegedly hidden during the final months of the Anglo-Boer War — has anchored a century of South African treasure hunting. The hoards below are the documented finds. The 2021 Lost Hoard, recovered from a Swiss vault, is the most institutionally significant of them and is treated in the featured pair above.
The Frankfort Hoard
Botmansbank Farm · Free StateA farmworker named Samuel M'taung discovered approximately 16,000 ZAR gold ponds in a hole near a bridge on the farm Botmansbank near Frankfort in the Free State. The finder was charged with theft but found innocent by Justice de Beer.
Local historian F.A. Steytler speculated the hoard may have been linked to the evacuation of the Orange Free State government during the Anglo-Boer War. Most of the coins were reportedly melted down — only a tiny fraction survive today.
The Union Buildings Hoard
Meintjieskop · PretoriaWhile digging the foundations for the Union Buildings at Meintjieskop in Pretoria, workers unearthed two cases containing gold bars — approximately £4,000 worth.
The two discoverers each received £1,000 — half the treasure — under the prevailing finder's-share convention. The origin of the gold remains uncertain; possibly connected to the Kruger Millions legend, possibly a pre-Union private cache.
The Chrissiesmeer Cache
Eastern Transvaal · Traced to October 1912 mail-coach robberyIn 1935, a farmworker near Chrissiesmeer uncovered gold sovereigns while ploughing, setting off a treasure hunt that revealed a substantial hoard. The Grobler brothers, the farm's owners, recovered 28 Kruger ponds and 16 half-crowns from the reigns of Queen Victoria and King Edward VII.
The hoard was traced back to a highway robbery in October 1912, when a gang held up a mail coach and stole boxes containing £2,500 in gold and £100 in silver. Only one robber was caught; on his release from jail, a family member tried to dig up the hidden hoard but was unable to retrieve it — the family member had gone blind in the intervening years and could not find the spot.
Foundation Stone Hoards
Coins deliberately buried · Ceremonial cachesNot all hoards are accidents. A second class — buried under foundation stones at moments of civic ceremony — gives a precisely datable snapshot of what was in circulation at the moment a building rose. South Africa has produced two notable examples.
The Nuwe Kerk, Cape Town
Foundation laid 20 April 1833 · Excavated 1967When the Nuwe Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) in Cape Town was demolished in 1967, workers removed the foundation stone laid by Governor Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole on 20 April 1833. Beneath it: 20 coins, plus contemporary articles including a newspaper.
Dr. Frank Mitchell examined the hoard and noted that the coins were pieces familiar and presumably in circulation in Cape Town at the time:
- 9 from Great Britain
- 8 from the Netherlands
- 3 from other countries
The Pretoria Mint Cornerstone
National Bank Building & Mint · 6 July 1892At the ceremony laying the foundation stone of the new National Bank Building and the Mint in Pretoria, a leaden casket was concealed behind the cornerstone. It contained documents, newspapers, a £1 banknote, and three coin specimens: a gold Pond, a gold Half Pond, and a silver Crown (5 shillings).
President Kruger's speech referred to these as "die muntstukke van hierdie Republiek wat tot hede uitgegee is" — the coins of this Republic issued to date — suggesting that smaller denominations were not yet in circulation in mid-1892.
Strange & Modern hoards
Police caches · Anomalies · Cross-border findsThe remaining South African hoard record is a small set of anomalies: a coin cache recovered from inside a crocodile, a frenzied municipal-roadworks treasure rush in Durban, and — most recently — a parcel of Krugerrands found inside coffee tins in suburban England.
The Crocodile-Stomach Hoard
Coopersdal Farm · Komatipoort, Eastern TransvaalOne of the strangest coin discoveries on record. On 20 August 1913, three hunters shot a crocodile on the farm Coopersdal near Komatipoort in the Eastern Transvaal. When the reptile was cut open, 25 gold sovereigns were found in its stomach.
- 3 were ZAR ponds
- The remainder were sovereigns from the reigns of Queen Victoria and King Edward VII
- Most recent date: 1909
- The coins had lost approximately 18% of their weight and were highly polished — eroded by the crocodile's digestive system over years
The accepted theory: an unfortunate man on his way home from the mines, with his savings tucked into his belt, had become a meal for the crocodile. The coins survived him by years.
The Greyville Treasure
Mitchell Crescent · DurbanMunicipal workmen lowering the level of Mitchell Crescent near the Greyville racecourse struck what an eyewitness described as "a seam of gold sovereigns." Within minutes, a frenzied crowd descended, digging for treasure. By the time police arrived, the cache had been cleaned out.
A police investigation recovered only 75 gold sovereigns from some of the labourers. All coins dated to the Victorian era — meaning they had been buried for at least 20 years by the time of discovery. The original owner was never identified.
The Milton Keynes Krugerrands
United Kingdom · Treasure Act 1996Not a South African discovery, but a SA-coin one. During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, a hoard of 50 South African Krugerrands (48 from 1974, 2 from 1975) was found in Milton Keynes.
The coins were divided between two white plastic tubes, each placed inside a green Lyons Original coffee tin, the whole assemblage in a Tesco plastic carrier bag. The hoard was submitted as potential Treasure under the Treasure Act 1996 — a reminder that South African gold continues to surface across the world.
From Rosenthal's register
Cape Town · Cradock · RiversdaleEric Rosenthal, in From Barter to Barclays (1968), recorded several smaller finds that fall short of the named hoards above but belong in the same documentary tradition:
- 1898 — Cape Town: French coins from c. 1805 found during sewer excavation.
- Fish River, Cradock: fifteen Netherlands Guilders (1687–1785) found on the banks of the Great Fish River.
- 1930s — Riversdale: a pot full of old coins discovered by a farmer in the veld.
- Western Cape Numismatic Society — South African Coin Hoards, Pierre H. Nortje, June 2024.
- The Heritage Portal — Ancient Greek and Roman coins from Pondoland, South Africa (Part 1), September 2023.
- Western Cape Numismatic Society — Ancient Greek and Roman coins from Pondoland, South Africa (Part 2), Pierre H. Nortje, September 2023.
- Papers Past (New Zealand) — The Golden Crocodile, Mataura Ensign, 10 October 1913.
- The Guardian — Going for Transvaal gold, Chris McGreal, June 2001.
- News24 — "Kruger Millions" discovered in a Swiss vault — and now for sale, February 2021.
- DispatchLIVE — "The lost hoard" of rare SA gold coins found in a Swiss vault released, February 2021.
- South African Mint — South African Mint releases the Krugerrand "Lost Hoard", February 2021.
- Finds.org.uk (British Museum) — 2020 T345, 50 South African Krugerrands hoard.
- Rosenthal, Eric — From Barter to Barclays (1968).