The Veld Pond — "field pound" — was struck in the final weeks of the Anglo-Boer War, when the ZAR government had retreated deep into the bush and the Pretoria Mint was long lost to British forces. A makeshift press was operated somewhere in the Lydenburg district of the eastern Transvaal, using locally sourced gold and rudimentary equipment. The results are notoriously crude even by emergency coinage standards.
Fewer than 1,000 pieces were struck before the Peace of Vereeniging ended hostilities in May 1902. Forgeries have circulated almost as long as genuine examples, and authentication against known die characteristics is essential before any serious assessment of value.
The Veld Pond — "field pound" — was struck in the final weeks of the Anglo-Boer War, when the ZAR government had retreated deep into the bush and the Pretoria Mint was long lost to British forces. A makeshift press was operated somewhere in the Lydenburg district of the eastern Transvaal, using locally sourced gold and rudimentary equipment. The results are notoriously crude even by emergency coinage standards.
Fewer than 1,000 pieces were struck before the Peace of Vereeniging ended hostilities in May 1902. Forgeries have circulated almost as long as genuine examples, and authentication against known die characteristics is essential before any serious assessment of value.