The Rarest of the Rare: Unique and Very Rare Gold Coins of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek
Nortje, Pierre H. (2022)
Book Summary
In a list recently published by Wikipedia of the world’s most expensive coins, the top twenty are, with the exception of three, all North American coins. The three exceptions are an Islamic medieval gold Dinar, an ancient Roman gold Aureus of Brutus, and a South African gold coin, the so-called “single 9” overstamped Paul Kruger Pond of 1898. As expected, all the coins in the top 20 list are extremely scarce with the South African example being unique. The value of the individual coins is estimated from US$4m up to nearly US$20m.
The “single 9” Kruger Pond, is however not the only unique or extremely rare South African coin dating from that era. The Z.A.R. coinage, although struck over a relatively short period, contains quite a few rarities and in some cases, coins that over the years have made international numismatic headlines.
