Coins of the South African pound

On 14 February 1961, the Union of South Africa adopted a decimal currency, replacing the pound with the Rand.

After the 1806 seizure, the military administrator issued a proclamation prohibiting the export of coinage and fixing the relationship of the various coins in the colony.

[3] The relative values were: During the succeeding years, British coins were introduced, but paper rijksdaalders which were nominally worth four English shillings continued to circulate until 1 January 1826 when British currency became the sole legal tender in the Cape Colony[3] and paper rijksdaalders were redeemed at 1s 61⁄2d each.

He sent 300 ounces of gold to J.J. Pratt, the Republic's Consul-General in London with a request that coins the size of the English sovereign be struck.

[3] When the first issue (the fine beard variety) was presented to members of the Volksraad some scorned the coins that carried Burger's image.

The symbolism represented foolish pride to a very religious community, but others supported Pratt for producing the first coinage for the Republic.

[5] The discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand in 1885 turned the South African Republic from an impoverished state dominated by farmers to one where fortunes could be made from mining.

In 1892 President Kruger, facing an election campaign, ordered the building of a mint and the striking of the republic's first full coinage series.

These coins were minted under the Presidency of Paul Kruger and bear his bust on the reverse and the coat of arms of the ZAR on the obverse.

The jewellers' copies of the Sammie Marks Tickey are popular with Commonwealth of Nations coin collectors.

The Second Anglo-Boer War broke out in October 1899 and in June 1900 the British under Lord Roberts occupied Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic.

[3] The Government set up an emergency mint at Pilgrim's Rest where a total of 986 Veld Ponde were struck and put into circulation.

These coins, struck from hand-made dies, had the South African Republic monogram Z.A.R and the date (1902) on the obverse and the text EEN POND on the reverse.

It was renamed the South African Mint, although it continued to produce coins based on the British coinage for some years thereafter.