South African Coinage · Before Union

Pre-Union coinage.

From Dutch East India Company duits at the Cape to the last gold of the Boer Republic — two and a half centuries of South African coinage, struck from Amsterdam to Birmingham to Berlin to Pretoria. The most fertile collecting field in the country.

1652 — 1910 · Two and a half centuries

Featured research

From The Journal

The gold behind the coins.

Where did the metal come from? An investigation into the origins of the gold used for the first ZAR coins struck in Berlin in 1892, and the emergency minting of the 1902 Veldpond at Pilgrim's Rest. Includes profiles of Otto Schultz — whose wax models are still preserved at the Berlin Münzkabinett — and the school teacher P.J. Kloppers, who cut the Veldpond dies under wartime conditions. Open research questions for serious collectors.

The five eras

In Chronological Order

I 1652 – 1825

Early colonial

Dutch VOC duits, rixdollars, and stuivers at the Cape; Spanish reales in circulation; the first paper rixdollars of 1782; sterling introduced in 1825 under British rule. The currency before there was a country.

II c. 1815 – 1816

The Griqua tokens

Issued by the London Missionary Society from the Griqua settlements — South Africa's first autonomous coinage. Four denominations (¼d, ½d, 5d, 10d). Extremely rare, foundational to the field.

The Burgerspond

South Africa's first gold coin, struck from Transvaal gold at Heaton's Mint, Birmingham. President Burgers' vanity project that became a political scandal. 837 minted across two beard varieties; engraver Leonard C. Wyon. The Coarse Beard MS65 reached $58,768 in 2025.

IV 1892 – 1900

The ZAR Republic

The Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek series — the heart of South African numismatics. The 1892 Berlin issue with its Double Shaft errors and Otto Schultz's "O.S." initials, the move to the Pretoria Mint in 1893, and the special issues including the 1898 Sammy Marks Tickey — only 215 minted.

The closing chapter — emergency gold pounds struck at Pilgrim's Rest under wartime conditions, with dies cut by school teacher P.J. Kloppers. 986 minted, roughly 350-400 survive. The last coin of the Boer Republic.

The ZAR index

Every Coin in the Series

Group I ·

Gold denominations

The ZAR hub Complete guide to the series — the entry point for the entire 1892–1902 republic coinage.

1892 Double Shaft Pond The Berlin error variety — saved by collectors at the time, many high-grade examples survive.

1892 Single Shaft Pond The corrected design — heavier circulation, fewer high-grade survivors than the double shaft.

1892 Double Shaft Half Pond The half-denomination Berlin error — collected as a companion to the full pond.

1893 – 1900 gold ponds The Pretoria Mint years — single-shaft gold, struck for the duration of the republic.

Group II ·

Silver & bronze

1892 Double Shaft Crown (5 shillings) The crown-sized Berlin error — one of the most desirable ZAR silver pieces.

1892 silver denominations Threepence, sixpence, shilling, two shillings, and half-crown — the full Berlin silver.

1893 – 1897 silver Pretoria Mint silver — the 1893 Florin in PCGS MS64 reached R650,000.

The 1892 proof set The presentation pieces — the Hohmann Collection example anchors the field.

Group III ·

Special issues

The 1898 Sammy Marks Tickey Only 215 minted. Struck as a presentation piece at Sammy Marks's request — one of the rarest South African pieces.

The Menné Half Pond mystery An investigation into one of the most intriguing ZAR questions — what we know, and what we don't.

Group IV ·

Collecting guides

How to build a ZAR date set The structured route into the most classic South African collecting area.

Grading ZAR coins Practical grading: wear, surfaces, originality, common pitfalls.

Auction landmarks

Recent Realisations

1874 Burgerspond

Mintage 837 · Coarse 142, Fine 695

2025 Heritage · Coarse MS65 $58,768
2025 Schulman · Coarse MS62 €50,000
2013 Heritage · Coarse MS64+ $128,500

1898 Sammy Marks Tickey

Mintage 215 · Presentation issue

One of the rarest SA R-rare
Recent realisations see page
NGC Population see page

1902 Veldpond

Mintage 986 · Survivors ~350-400

2024 St James's £38,000
2025 Heritage · NGC MS65 $33,600
2023 Schulman €28,000

The mints

Where Pre-Union Coinage Was Struck

Königliche Münze

The Berlin connection

How Prussian precision shaped South Africa's first coinage — Otto Schultz, his original wax models still preserved at the Berlin Münzkabinett, and the 1892 Double Shaft errors that became collectors' items.

Read the research

Pretoria · Cape Town

The Oom Paul press

The legendary minting press that struck South African coins for 132 years — from the ZAR republic in 1892 through every series the country has produced, until 2024.

Read the research

Church Square · Pretoria

The Pretoria Mint

South Africa's first mint, on Church Square in Pretoria. Operational from 1893 to 1900, when British forces occupied the city and the doors closed for good.

Read the research

The references

Standard Sources

Brian HernThe Standard Catalogue of South African Coins, Medals and Tokens (annual).
Elias LevineThe Coinage and Counterfeits of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (1974).
J. T. BecklakeMintage research on ZAR coinage (1965).
Western Cape Numismatic SocietyResearch papers, 2023 – 2025.
Berlin MünzkabinettMuseum-digital. Südafrika 1892 records.
Heritage AuctionsAuction archive — South African material.

The South African Numismatic Library A division of Jardines Galleries · © 2026

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