Jardines Galleries · Coins proposed but never adopted
Orange Free State Patterns.
The Orange Free State (1854–1902) considered issuing its own coinage on more than one occasion — and on more than one occasion, declined. What survives are "salesman samples": pattern coins struck in Berlin and Nuremberg by Otto Nolte & Co. and L.C. Lauer, sent to Bloemfontein with the hope of winning a contract. None won. Six patterns reached the Free State government for approval. The coinage they propose was never minted; the coins themselves are now among the rarest objects in South African numismatics.
Patterns from Berlin
Otto Nolte & Co. · L.C. Lauer · Three issues, fourteen yearsThe Free State patterns divide into three issues across fourteen years. 1874 — a bronze penny with the Dutch House of Orange's tree-and-bugle-horns symbol, struck in Berlin in an estimated 100 pieces. 1887 — a silver Kroon submitted by L.C. Lauer of Nuremberg as a presentation piece for a coinage bid that wasn't accepted. 1888 — multiple penny varieties in bronze, copper-nickel, silver, and aluminium, struck primarily for collectors.
None of the patterns were approved. The Free State continued to use British and Transvaal coinage until its 1902 absorption into the British Empire — and the patterns themselves became, by default, the only coinage the Republic ever produced.
The Kroon that wasn't
1887 · Copper · MS62 Brown NGC · Likely uniqueHern lists it as a likely unique piece. A copper pattern of the 1887 Kroon, struck alongside the silver presentation pieces but never seen in any other example. It surfaced at Dix Noonan Webb in November 2011 and sold for approximately $175,000 — the highest price ever paid for an Orange Free State coin, and one of the highest for any South African pattern.
It reappeared at Heritage NYINC in January 2025, still graded MS62 Brown, still alone in its class. The closest comparable specimens are the three known silver Kroons of the same date.
— One known specimen —The Free State that never struck
A Boer republic, a German foundry, and a coinage that didn't happenThe Orange Free State was a Boer republic founded in 1854 and absorbed into the British Empire in 1902 after the Anglo-Boer War. For the entire forty-eight years of its existence, it had no circulating coinage of its own. With the exception of "good fors" — local emergency tokens used to combat coin shortages — the Republic relied on British, Cape, and Transvaal coins for daily transactions.
The idea of an independent coinage was raised on more than one occasion. Otto Nolte & Co. of Berlin submitted a quote to the Free State government and went so far as to send six pattern coins for approval. The patterns were never approved, and therefore never minted in circulating quantities. The pieces that survive are exactly that: salesman samples that never made the sale.
Three distinct issues survive — 1874 (a single penny pattern), 1887 (a silver Kroon, with a unique copper variant), and 1888 (a penny in multiple metal and design varieties). The 1888 pieces, struck after the Free State had clearly chosen not to commission its own coinage, were produced primarily for the collector market. That commercial origin is what gave 19th-century critics the ammunition for the "apocryphal" charge — the controversy that closes this page.
1874 Penny
The earliest known OFS pattern · Bronze · ~100 mintedSpecs & references
- MetalBronze
- Weight9.74 g
- Diameter30.23 mm
- MintageEstimated 100 pieces
- ReferenceHern O1, KM Pn1, X# Pn1
Tree, horns, denomination
- ObverseTree between three bugle horns — the symbol of the Dutch House of Orange. Legend "ORANJE VRIJ STAAT" around.
- Reverse"EEN PENNY 1874" within wreath; "MUNTSPROEVE" ("coin trial") below.
1887 Kroon
The Lauer presentation · Three silver · One copperIn 1887, the private firm of L.C. Lauer of Nuremberg made a bid for the Free State coinage contract. They commissioned Otto Nolte of Munich to strike an extremely rare pattern silver Kroon for presentation to the government. The bid was not accepted. The presentation pieces — three silver and at least one copper — survived. The copper alone now ranks among the most valuable South African coins ever sold.
The silver Kroon
- MetalSilver
- Weight29.81 g
- Diameter38.61 mm
- MintageEstimated 3 pieces
- ReferenceHern O4, KM Pn3, X# Pn3
- NumistaRarity index 97 / 100
Arms & motto
- ObverseCoat of arms of the Orange Free State (ornamental type with indented base and sides); legend "ORANJE VRYJSTAAT" above; motto "GEDULD EN MOED" ("Patience and Courage") on banner; date 1887 below. Designed by Wolfgang Lauer.
- ReverseLaurel wreath surrounding "1 KROON"; "LLC" (Ludwig Christian Lauer) and "ESSAY" (trial) below.
- EdgeReeded
The copper 1887 Kroon
MS62 Brown NGC · Dix Noonan Webb 95-96, November 2011 · Heritage NYINC, January 2025Struck alongside the silver presentation pieces but in a different metal — and apparently in only one example. Hern lists it as a "likely unique piece." No other copper specimen has been recorded in the auction archives, the standard references, or any of the major museum collections.
The hammer price at Dix Noonan Webb Auction 95-96 in November 2011 was approximately $175,000, making the coin the highest-priced Orange Free State piece on record and one of the highest for any South African pattern. The same coin returned to market at Heritage NYINC Signature Sale 3121 in January 2025, still in its NGC MS62 Brown holder, still alone in its class.
A Free State Kroon in East African circulation
A small number of the silver Kroons — Hern suggests around ten pieces extant — were counterstamped "I.B.E.A. Co 1888" with balance scales and the Persian word ADLI ("the Just"), the mark of the Imperial British East Africa Company.
The placement is the interesting part: the counterstamp is positioned to cover the word "ESSAY". Removing the trial-piece designation transformed the coin, on its face, from a numismatic specimen into a piece of currency. The IBEA Co. counterstamped pieces may have actually circulated — meaning a Free State pattern that the Free State itself never approved became, briefly, real money in British East Africa.
1888 Pennies
Multiple varieties · Multiple metals · Struck for collectorsThe 1888 pieces are the most numerous and most varied of the OFS patterns — and the most clearly commercial. Per CNG: "the 1888 'pattern' Pennies, known in several different varieties and metals, were struck for collectors' interest, and are avidly sought as the only available representative coinage for this state." The varieties below cover the main shield-design and metal combinations.
| Type | Metal | Weight | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain Shield (Type I) | Bronze | 10.21 g | Hern O8 · X# Pn7 | PR66 Red & Brown NGC sold at $2,000 – $3,000 estimate. |
| Elegant Shield (Type II) | Bronze | — | Hern O14 · X# Pn6 | PR66 Brown NGC, "fiery reds and deep blues." |
| Waisted Shield | Bronze | — | Hern O14B | Thin planchet variety. |
| Copper-Nickel | Copper-nickel | 9.1 g | Hern O11 · X# Pn6c | PR64 Cameo; mintage approximately 20 pieces. |
| Silver | Silver | — | Hern O13 · X# Pn7a | Very rare off-metal strike. |
| Aluminium | Aluminium | — | Hern O12 · X# Pn7c | Extremely rare. |
The 1888 obverse features a waisted coat-of-arms with floral sprays and the motto "GEDULD EN MOED" on a scroll below. The reverse shows "1 PENNY" in a wreath, often with a small "V" or "LLC" below. The Smithsonian collection holds an example dated 1888, with a curatorial note observing that the legend "ORANJE VRYJSTAAT" is in fact a misspelling of the Afrikaans name — and that the orange tree and bugle horns are heraldic references to the Dutch Royal Family rather than to the Republic itself.
The "apocryphal" controversy
Lyman Low · CNG · The modern verdictAre these real coins?
Low's accusation was that pieces like the OFS 1888 pennies — patterns produced by a German foundry for a coinage that was never adopted — were essentially commercial fictions, dressed up in the trappings of state authority for collector consumption. In an era when transcontinental verification was difficult, the charge had some force.
Modern scholarship takes a more nuanced view. The CNG cataloguer's reframing has become the standard rebuttal: "in many cases, these so-called 'apocryphal' coins are the only examples from these countries available." The OFS patterns are now widely collected as legitimate historical artifacts — documenting a proposed-but-unrealised coinage rather than counterfeiting one.
Two facts settle the matter for the OFS patterns specifically. First, the six patterns sent for approval have a documentary trail through the Free State government — they were not produced in secret. Second, the National Museum in Bloemfontein holds an 1888 penny pattern in its public collection, which is exactly the institutional acknowledgement Low's accusation said these pieces could never earn.
- Hern, Brian, Bothma, John & Peterse, Hercie — Hern's Handbook on South African Coins and Patterns 2017/18 (9th ed.).
- CNG Triton IX Auction, 2006 — cataloguer's reframing of the apocryphal question.
- Numista — Orange Free State Patterns reference and rarity index.
- Heritage Auctions NYINC Signature Sale 3121, January 2025 — 1874 Penny MS65 Red and 1887 Copper Kroon MS62 Brown.
- Dix Noonan Webb Auction 95-96, November 2011 — 1887 Copper Kroon record sale.
- Havenga, S. & Wessels, A. — "Die geldgeskiedenis van die Vrystaat, 1854-1902", New Contree 78, 2023.
- Smithsonian Institution — National Museum of American History collection, 1888 Penny.
- National Museum, Bloemfontein — 1888 Penny pattern in the public collection.
- Cross-reference: The Berlin Mint Connection for the broader Berlin/Continental engraving context.