The Gold South African Pond coin debuted in 1892. Its minting continued until 1900 under the reign of President Kruger. The rarest of these coins is the “Single 9” gold pond and it is unpopular beyond South Africa.
The Gold South African Pond is available in denominations with face values of 1 pond and ½ pond. The gold fineness of the 1 pond is 0.917 while that of the ½ pond is 0.916. the 1 pond coin has a diameter of 22 millimeters while the ½ pond has a diameter of 19 millimeters. The gross weights of the 1 pond coin and the ½ pond coin are 7.99 grams and 3.994 grams respectively. The 1 pond and ½ pond coins have thicknesses of 1.56 and 1.57 millimeters respectively. Both denominations are made of 24-carat gold, demonetized and round in shape. No sales tax or VAT is charged for trading in the Gold South African Pond.
The obverse of both coins bear the effigy of President Stephanus Johannes Paulus (Paul) Kruger at bust size facing to the left and taking more than half of the area. Between the effigy and the reeded inner edge of the coin is the inscription, “ZUID AFRIKAANSCHE REPUBLIEK” (South African Republic) running clockwise from the bottom left to the bottom right corner. The obverse was engraved by Otto Schultz. The reverse bears the Coat of Arms of the South African Republic taking up more than two-thirds of the area. The word, “POND” followed by a star at the top are inscribed to its top-left while the year is towards the top-right. The denomination’s face value is at the middle edge to the left and is directly opposite a star to the right.
The Gold South African Pond was minted by the South African Rand Refinery. Founded in Germiston in 1920, the Rand Refinery is situated in one of the biggest and most popular refineries of gold in the world. The company only gained its independence in 1993 officially although it was already a private company as of November 27, 1920 when construction of the facilities commenced.
