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1 Penny Orange Free State
| Issuer | Orange Free State |
|---|---|
| Year | 1874 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 30.23 mm |
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| Obverse description | The obverse displays the coat of arms of the Orange Free State as its central device: a fruiting orange tree in full canopy rising from a grassy mound, flanked on either side by two hunting horns with ribbons, with a third horn positioned below the tree. The field is plain and lightly mirrored, consistent with proof striking. The circumferential legend ORANJE VRIJ STAAT is disposed around the periphery in serifed capital letters, reading left to right. The design is contained within a dentilated border running the full circumference of the coin. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Smooth |
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| Additional information |
The Orange Free State issued coinage only twice in its history — a pattern coinage in 1874 and a small circulation issue in 1888 — making any piece from either series genuinely scarce. This 1874 penny is catalogued as a pattern (Hern O1), struck in London most likely by Ralph Heaton & Sons of Birmingham, as the Boer republic had no domestic minting capacity. Whether it was ever intended for full circulation or existed purely as a presentation piece remains debated among South African numismatists.