Pond, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, 1902, Gold - Veldpond

Beware of forgeries: 1894, 1897, 1898, 1898/99, 1900 and Veldponde.

The Veld Pond (or field Pond), is one of the most iconic and desirable issues in South African coinage.

During the Second Anglo-Boer War, the Boer forces were desperately in need of funds in order to purchase supplies from the local tribes. After occupying the town of Pilgrim’s Rest, which had an abandoned gold mine, work began to extract gold and manufacture coinage in the old mining workshops.

Through much trial and error, a hand-engraved die was created by which nearly a thousand pieces were struck.  Due to the rudimentary means of manufacture, the Veld Pond coins are not uniform in dimension or mass. It has a significantly higher gold content than the normal-issue Pond (0.999 vs. 0.917).

Coin Specifications