G World Coins and Medals. South Africa, ZAR, Burgers pond, 1874, fine beard, bust l., rev. circular shield of arms over flags, eagle above (KM.1.2; Fr.1), in plastic holder, graded by NGC as MS66, very rare thus, one of the finest known examples of this first gold pond of the nation The exact mintage of this great classic is not known, but what is clearly established in numismatic lore is that the first president of the ZAR, shown here in gold portraiture, decided on his own to approach the Birmingham firm of Ralph Heaton & Sons to commission what became the forerunner of the famed gold pond, based on the English sovereign. Heaton obtained the services of Royal Mint engraver Leonard Wyon to design and prepare the dies. Thomas Burgers supplied the gold specie, mined in the Transvaal. His purpose was to ascertain that these coins would be minted from native gold, indicating a real use for the precious metal at home. Once the new specimens were in his hands, shipped to him from England, Burgers proudly displayed them to members of the Volksraad, no doubt assuming that the legislative body would embrace his idea. The idea they certainly embraced, in time, and slowly made preparations for a coin based on this model that would be produced in large commercial quantities within two decades. But for possibly two reasons Burgers’ portrait offended the lawmakers: he had never sought the Volksraad’s approval for his idea before showing them the product, and he rather immodestly placed his own image on the coin. The Burgers pond as a commercial entity was therefore rejected. We might reasonably assume that some of the finest surviving examples are those coins shown to those legislators or even retained by Burgers himself. Shortly after they were officially rejected, most of the mintage was sold to the public at twice face as nothing but mementoes. Few people at the time must have envisioned that the coins would ever be highly valued, and many of the known examples have been mounted, indicating that they were used as jewellery. In all, about 800 pieces were so distributed, and soon forgotten – but not for long. Upon the conclusion of the Boer War, collectors seem to have rediscovered the Burgers pond, which became eagerly collected both in the home country and throughout the Commonwealth. Alas, however, it was too late to save most from being mishandled or damaged. A tiny number exists in Mint State. This one is certainly exceptional, and literally a miracle of survival through some of the harshest of times. £130,000-140,000
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