Lot 364
South Africa, gold Kaal Pond without rim - rare
British, Ancient & World Coins - Auction 131 | C26005
Auction: 22 July 2026 10.30 BST
Description
South Africa, gold Kaal Pond without rim, no date (c. 1900), Pretoria (KM unlisted; Hern. Z55). Extremely Fine. The coin is holdered by NGC (8537275-001) as authentic.
Kaal Pond – a witness of the Second Boer War
This type of gold Pond is known as a ‘rimless blank ponde’, essentially a blank planchet for the gold Pond, struck without rim (varieties with rim exist as well). A interesting piece of numismatic history, with ‘Kaal’ fittingly translating to ‘naked’ in Afrikaans. During the last Boer retreat from Pretoria on 4th of June 1900, State Attorney Jan Smuts successfully moved all struck and unstruck silver and gold. The stock was removed in order to keep the precious metals out of reach of Lord Roberts' advancing British forces. Many of the blanks were subsequently used for military needs.
