Jardines Galleries · The unissued currency of New Griqualand
The 1868 Griqualand-East £1 Note.
One of the most dramatic stories in South African paper money. Twenty thousand notes printed in Cape Town for an independent Griqua state, dated 1 January 1868 — and never issued. They were locked in a safe for thirty-two years, then almost all destroyed in two fires: nineteen thousand, nine hundred burned by the man who'd kept them safe, and most of the rest destroyed by a mob who'd come for the book that contained the only surviving examples. Fewer than a dozen are known today.
20,000 printed in Cape Town
Saul Solomon & Co. · Uniface · Crowned state armsThe Volksraad of Nieuw Griqualand authorised an issue of £10,000 in government paper in 1867. Saul Solomon & Co. of Cape Town — the colony's leading printer — produced approximately 20,000 one-pound notes, dated 1 January 1868. They were uniface, with the crowned state arms, the Dutch legend "GOUVERNEMENT VAN NIEUW GRIQUALAND", and the motto "Pro Rege Lege et Grege."
Some examples carry the overprint "Mount Currie" — the alternative name proposed for the territory. The notes were a fully realised currency, ready for circulation, that was never circulated.
Fewer than a dozen survive
Locked in a safe · Burned by the printer · Burned by a mobA secretary named Brisley warned the Volksraad that the Griqua state held no assets to guarantee redemption. The notes were never released, and were locked in a safe at the trading firm of Strachan & Co. in Umzimkulu. They sat there for over thirty years.
Around 1900, 100 notes were bound into 100 copies of Reverend William Dower's book; the remaining 19,900 were burned. The book's frank account so offended the Griqua community that a mob broke into the church one night and burned the books on the steps. Today the surviving count is in single figures.
NIEUW GRIQUALAND
The Griqua Trek
Adam Kok III · Nieuw Griqualand · The VolksraadIn the early 1860s, Adam Kok III led his Griqua people over the Drakensberg mountains in search of a new homeland. They settled in what became known as Nieuw Griqualand — New Griqualand, later Griqualand East — and established its capital at Kokstad, named for their leader.
The new state was small and politically peculiar. It was populated overwhelmingly by pre-existing Xhosa-speaking peoples, with the Griqua themselves forming only a tiny, politically dominant minority. To govern this arrangement, the Griqua established a Raad (or Volksraad) — a council of twelve members, modelled on the Boer republican tradition, which made decisions on behalf of the whole population. It was the Volksraad that, in 1867, decided New Griqualand should have its own currency.
The currency experiment
1867 authorisation · 1868 print run · Brisley's warningIn 1867, inspired by the Bank of Durban's private banknotes, the Griqua Volksraad authorised an issue of £10,000 in government paper. Approximately 20,000 one-pound notes were duly printed by Saul Solomon & Co. in Cape Town and dated 1 January 1868.
The design was carefully realised. The notes were uniface — printed on one side only — and featured the crowned state arms with ribbons bearing the legend "GOUVERNEMENT VAN / NIEUW GRIQUALAND." The Griqua motto, "Pro Rege Lege et Grege" ("For King, Law and the People"), appeared prominently. Below the arms ran ten lines of legend between two vignettes, each carrying the value. The reverse was left blank.
And then a secretary named Brisley raised an objection that turned out to be conclusive. The Griqua state had no assets to guarantee redemption of the notes — no gold, no silver, no securities held against the issue. They could not promise to honour the £1 face value if anyone presented a note for redemption in ten years' time. The Volksraad listened, agreed, and the notes were therefore never released.
The 20,000 notes were locked in a safe at the trading firm of Strachan & Co. in Umzimkulu by a reliable citizen named Donald Strachan. After the British annexed Griqualand East in 1874 and Adam Kok III died in 1875, the notes became formally worthless. They sat in Strachan's safe for the next quarter-century.
The book, the fire, and the mob
~1900 – 1902 · The destruction sequenceAround 1900, Reverend William Dower, the long-serving missionary in Kokstad, planned to write a book about the Griqua people. The notes' second life began with a printer's request — and ended in a church-yard fire. Ten dated events trace the descent from 20,000 in a safe to fewer than a dozen surviving.
- 1867 The Volksraad of Nieuw Griqualand authorises an issue of £10,000 in government paper, inspired by the Bank of Durban's private banknotes.
- 1 January 1868 Approximately 20,000 one-pound notes printed by Saul Solomon & Co. in Cape Town. Uniface, crowned state arms, motto "Pro Rege Lege et Grege."
- 1868 Brisley's warning. The state has no assets to guarantee redemption. The notes are never issued; locked in a safe at Strachan & Co. in Umzimkulu by Donald Strachan.
- 1874 British annexation of Griqualand East. The state ceases to exist; the notes' nominal authority disappears with it.
- 1875 Adam Kok III dies. The notes are now formally worthless. They remain in Strachan's safe regardless.
- ~ 1900 Rev. William Dower, the Kokstad missionary, contacts Donald Strachan for a chapter contribution to a book on the Griqua people. He proposes binding an original £1 note into each of 100 copies.
- ~ 1900 Strachan supplies the 100 notes. The remaining 19,900 are burned. The bonfire that nearly extinguishes the entire issue is set, deliberately, by the man who has guarded the notes for thirty-two years.
- 1902 "The Early Annals of Kokstad and East Griqualand" by William Dower is published. Frank, sometimes uncomplimentary, with an original 1868 £1 note bound into each copy.
- ~ 1902 The Griqua community is incensed by the book's portrayal. Local newspapers carry angry letters; a group of citizens breaks into the church one night where copies are stored, and burns them on the church steps.
- 1935 Carel Birkby, author of "Zulu Journey," visits Kokstad and reports the consequences in writing — see the quote below.
"Thirty years ago Dower published a slim volume on his experiences among the Griquas. It is out of print now, and few copies exist, because the Griquas were so incensed at his true but uncomplimentary judgment on their character, and at his puckish jibes at them, that they destroyed every copy they could lay hands upon; and today the Kokstad library keeps its single copy under lock and key because otherwise some Griqua would probably rip it to pieces."
— Carel Birkby · Zulu Journey · 1935Where the survivors are
Books · Unbound notes · Less than a dozen all toldMost surviving notes are still bound into Dower's books. A handful are loose in private hands. The unbound notes — those without staple holes — are the rarest of all.
Public collections
- South African museums (Killie Campbell, Pretoria, Kokstad)6
- British Library, London1
- Other institutions (scattered)few
- Total surviving books worldwide< 20
Private holdings
- Balson Holdings Family Trust2
- Other private collections1 – 2
- Unbound notes (no staple holes)2 – 3
- Total verifiable notes in single hands< 12
Auction records
Four sales · 2007 – 2024 · Mostly Noonans & Spink| Date | Auction House | Description | Grade | Realised |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2007 | Noonans | Government of New Griqualand, One Pound, 1 January 1868, unissued, uniface, printed by Saul Solomon & Co. Pick S361a. | VF – gVF | £2,000 |
| Oct 2016 | Geldscheine-Online | Restored example. | Restored | £4,000 |
| Apr 2019 | Noonans | Government of New Griqualand, £1, 1 January 1868. No serial number; paper remnants and four spindle holes at top. | Good EF | £1,200 |
| 2024 | Spink · NY INC 381 | Government of New Griqualand, 1 pound, 1 January 1868, unissued, uniface, arms and bank title in elaborate panel top centre. | Good Fine | £3,000 |
Books with notes bound in trade at a different scale entirely. A copy of Dower's Early Annals with the original bank note bound in was offered for $2,135.20 (unsold) on eBay. Scott Balson, author of "Children of the Mist" and a leading Griqua historian, conservatively values a complete book-with-note at over US$10,000 — reflecting the genuine scarcity of intact books and the strong cross-collector interest in both the note and the book Dower wrote around it.
- Wikipedia — Griqualand East entry; historical and political background.
- Noonans Mayfair — auction archives, October 2007 and April 2019 sales.
- Scott Balson / PicClick — Early Annals of Kokstad and East Griqualand, book-with-note valuation.
- SINCONA Auction 25, Lot #2110 — Numismatic Rarities, Brisley episode and book-binding count.
- Geldscheine-Online — "Griqualand: Geldzeichen für ein indigenes Volk."
- Spink Auction 381, Lot 270 — NY INC 2024 sale.
- Dower, William — The Early Annals of Kokstad and East Griqualand, 1902 (1978 reprint).
- Birkby, Carel — Zulu Journey, 1935.
- Cross-references: Griqua Tokens, Orange Free State Patterns (the parallel "salesman samples" story).