The Griqua bank note - unissued

This extremely rare Griqua bank note was never issued and copies of the original note can be found only in the book written by Rev William Dower "The Early Annals of Kokstad" (1902).

In Dower's book he records on page 17: "They decided to issue paper money, actually had it printed, but never issued it." For a man who was so intimately involved with the Griquas of Nomansland, his short description fails to reveal what Ken Strachan had told Scott Balson when he was researching the history of the Strachan and Co tokens, and probably also emphasises his frustration with some of the decisions made by Kok's Raad.

In 1976, Ken Strachan told Scott Balson that, in 1868,  Adam Kok had approached his grandfather, Donald Strachan, after some 10,000 one pound Griqua bank notes had been printed in Cape Town, at considerable cost to the small Griqua Raad. Strachan, as Magistrate, was horrified and informed Kok that, as they had no assets on which to base its value, his currency proposal would destroy the Griqua nation. The Griquas had found it extremely difficult to try and attach values when, for instance, trading a cow for a sack of maize, so the practice of barter just did not work for them, but, the ideals and motives behind the creating of the notes were nevertheless sound. After Adam Kok and his Raad accepted that their idea of creating money (strangely not much different from our banks today) would not work, the ill-fated Griqua bank notes were immediately delivered to the Strachan and Co safe at Umzimkulu, where they were held by the Strachans. Strachan promised to look for an alternative to the bank notes and a few years later, he came out with his own coinage - backed by the goods at his store. It was a stroke of marketing genius as the trade token currency was accepted far and wide across Nomansland for nearly sixty years because the Strachan and Co name was just as good as a bank.

The Griqua bank notes were destroyed by burning in the early 1900's - but not before Strachan gave the Rev William Dower a few to be used in the illustrating of his book.

The Griqua Town Proof 1890 penny - unissued

Griqua Town is located in Griqualand West, near Kimberley, the pivot point around which the African diamond mining industry revolves, and is now within the Republic of South Africa. Starting in 1871, it was administered by Great Britain, becoming part of the Cape Colony in 1880. There were two patterns of coins, one dated 1890 (Coin A) and the other of similar design but undated (Coin B), that were struck in very small quantities by Otto Nolte & Co of Berlin, Germany from dies prepared by L.C. Lauer of Nuremburg, and both coins are extremely rare.

There are several stories attached to the production of these Griqua Town proofs, the one being that they were produced on a speculative basis, in anticipation of Griqualand's independence, after the Griquas' disastrous trek over the Drakensberg in the 1860's into Nomansland - but this is unlikely as the Griquas had no assets and could not have afforded such a venture - especially after the earlier drama of the failed bank note. KM favours this unlikely theory.

Another story is simply that Nolte had them struck as showpiece items to be of assistance to him in the marketing of his minting services in Europe. In his Commonwealth catalogue, Jerry Remick remains silent on this point.

The most plausible story is recorded in the covering preamble by Spink and Sons' South African agent, Dr Frank Mitchell, of City Coins of Cape Town, a Fellow of the South African Numismatic Society. When Coin "B" was put up for auction in 1985, Mitchell claimed that: "The patterns were struck in Germany between 1874 and 1890 in an endeavour to solicit orders from the Transvaal Republic (the ZAR); the Orange Free State and the Cape..."     
 

Coin "A". This example was sold by Ron Milcarek, a well-respected member of the American Numismatic Association, to Dr Tom Schoeck in 1997. Tom sold it to the Balson Family Trust by way of an Ebay auction in May 2003 for just over US$500. (Tom is colloquially  known as "collegianakid" on Ebay and boasts a 99.8% positive rating from well over 600 separate auctions.)   
 
Coin "A".  This example was purchased by the Balson Family Trust from well known numismatist Ronald Carlson of McKinney, Texas. Carlson purchased the coin from the City Coins auction in 1985. The coin previously formed part of the Richard J Ford collection. This coin has been graded and sealed in a plastic coin case by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America and is graded as PF 63.

Some rare South African tokens from the Umzimkulu region

St Faith's Token. Unlisted in Tokens of S Africa and their History - Dr G P Theron

The first St Faith's token "discovered" by a numismatist (Scott Balson) - as recorded in Dr Theron's 1980 book on South African tokens. Not much is known about these tokens but there is a Roman Catholic Mission, if you dare cross a real scary old timber bridge over a deep gorge in the St Faith's, Umtentweni, district East of Ixopo. Up To date, three or four St Faith's tokens have been found - the value of this token being about R3750, 00 and although this token is rare, It can still be purchased today.

Today the region of St Faith's finds its notoriety in sinister roots.
James Cole Ref: EG&T VII Tokens of S Africa and their History - Dr G P Theron (Note: Strictly speaking a Natal (N) token as the store is North of the Umzimkulu river)
 
James Cole, who had a trading store on the Natal side of the Umzimkulu River, West of Ixopo, was known to be an eccentric and his favourite trick was catching out Travelling Salesmen (reps). On the days that reps called he could be found in tatty clothes, sitting on an old log near the gate to his store, with an unshaven and unkempt appearance. The reps who called had to pass him, and the manner in which James Cole dealt with these reps depended entirely on how they treated him, "the apparent tramp" as, moments after asking for "James Cole", the staff inside would direct them back to the "tramp" at the gate!  
Woe betides the rep who had tried to belittle James Cole before entering the store.
How pleasant it would be to have been the proverbial fly on the wall.

Very little is known about this extremely rare token which was traded at Ixopo.
There is a small community at Creighton, not far from Ixopo, but no one could offer any assistance regarding the history of a company called "Creighton and Dennis" except for the comment that, at the turn of the last century, there was a store called Creighton and Dennis, that the tokens were to be redeemed in goods at the store and were used by labourers.
Durban Club token (Natal): Ref: N 10   Tokens of S Africa and their History - Dr G P Theron
 
The rare Durban Club sixpence was issued in 1860 and, according to Dr Theron, Mulock-Bentley and others; there are three known mintages, which include: a token with a milled edge, a plain edge and a pierced token (like the Strachan and Co). The Durban Club evolved into what today is Durban's premier club, located in a prime position overlooking the bay. According to George Russell, author of "History of old Durban", it apparently originated in 1852 when a small group of quoits players established a small grassy patch, near the bay, on which to play their favourite game. Later, a billiard table was acquired and, from then on, the club simply blossomed.

The 2/- ZAR coin modified by British prisoners of war

The ZAR Crest in a normal 2/-    replaced by a Victorian 3d and    Paul Kruger with a pipe
I came across this extremely rare "double headed coin" above while working in the bank (click on coins on red background for bigger images).

I don't know the exact history of this Paul Kruger (ZAR) coin but what I can tell you is that the Zuid Afrikaans Republiek Crest was carefully removed in the late 1900's by a British prisoner of war who was interned at a Boer prison camp. With nothing else to do, what better way to pass the time than to remove the crest of the "Boers" and insert a Victorian 3d coin in its place. He must have had a lot of time on his hands as the old Victorian 3d is not only flush with the surface of the 2/- ZAR coin, but even looks like an integral part of the 2/- coin, such was this prisoner-of-war's dedication to belittling the Boer President.

The other side of the Kruger coin has a pipe, complete with smoke, and a hat engraved on the profile of the Boer leader.

The tail of the doctored 2/6    The doctored head of Kruger

In the second example of a doctored ZAR coin, above, Paul Kruger has been draped in a Boer woman's shawl ("x" engraving 4 to 6 o'clock of coin) - a real insult that would have seen the perpetrator facing death if caught!

There are apparently only a handful of these doctored coins in the world today - and those above are the only examples that I know of that are displayed on the web. Jaco von Tonder, a well known numismatist specialising in ZAR coins said in an email, "I first saw these pieces when I browsed through your site. Unique! They sure have value for all collectors of Boer war stuff. I have never before seen such unusual pieces."
I don't know of any of these coins ever being sold or auctioned so I have no idea of their value.

A set of Paul Kruger coins covering 1892 to 1898

The Paul Kruger coins issued by the independent Afrikaner states have always intrigued me.
Not so much because of the age, geography or people who used them, but because of the events that were unfolding around them.

Where they displaced the Griquas in the region now known as the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, the British were soon pursuing the same riches as these pioneering whites of Dutch heritage - The fortune in gold, under the ground in the region known as the Witwatersrand.

All these coins are VF+, and the set has an estimated value of about R3750, 00.

German East Africa - Interim Bank Notes issued in the field by von Lettow-Vorbeck

I met Oberst Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's granddaughter in the little town of Weenen, Natal, South Africa, in the bank agency where I worked. When she heard of my interest in coins, she told me that she had received a few relics from Lettow-Vorbeck's estate, when he died a pauper in 1964, in the form of old German East African bank notes, as issued by him during the1914/1918 war. She had considered throwing them out, but decided that I should rather have them, so she gave me six German East African bank notes passed on by the great commander. She was married to a farmer and knew very little of her late grandfather's extraordinary abilities in the field of battle.
 
These notes are often auctioned on ebay- but it is extremely difficult to find them in the very good condition that these specific notes are in.
 
By clicking on the thumbnails below you can see the six 1, 5 and 10 Rupees in near Unc to Unc condition.

 
 

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