Transvaal pound
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The pound (
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
: ''pond''; symbol £, £SA for distinction) was the
currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...
of the
Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...
from the formation of the country as a British
Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 192 ...
in 1910. It was replaced by the
rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is finan ...
in 1961 when South Africa decimalised. In 1825, an imperial order-in-council made sterling coinage
legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in ...
in all the British colonies. At that time, the only British colony in Southern Africa was the Cape of Good Hope Colony. As time went on, sterling and its associated coinage became the currency of every British territory in
Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
. At that time sterling followed the
Carolingian monetary system The Carolingian monetary system, also called the Carolingian coinage systempound divided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.


History

The
pound sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...
became the standard currency of the Cape of Good Hope colony in 1825 following an imperial order-in-council that was issued for the purpose of introducing sterling coinage into all British colonies. British coins then replaced the Dutch currency. Before a unified South Africa, many authorities issued coins and banknotes in values equivalent to sterling. The
Transvaal Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...
, the
Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...
state that in 1902 was to become
Transvaal Colony The Transvaal Colony () was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the ...
, issued notes from 1867 to 1902 and coins from 1892 to 1902. The denominations of the gold coins were inscribed in
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
, thus reading "pond" instead of "pound". In 1920, the Treasury issued gold certificate notes. The following year, the
South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...
was established as the sole note issuing authority. Coins were issued from 1923. The South African pound remained equal to sterling throughout its existence, except for a short period following the abandonment of the gold standard in the United Kingdom in 1931. When the United Kingdom abandoned the
gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the l ...
in September 1931, Canada quickly followed suit because it had been under exactly the same pressure as the United Kingdom. The contraction of the money supply in the United States had been causing large amounts of gold bullion to flow west across the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, and south into the United States. The situation in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
was different, because gold exportation to
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
was a major business. According to
Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...
in his biography, the Nationalists specifically wanted to make a point of not automatically following suit with the United Kingdom, and they perceived that they were in a strong position to do so. For the United Kingdom and Canada, an outflow of gold was seen as a flight of gold, whereas for South Africa the same was seen as a profitable enterprise. The effect of South Africa's continuing adherence to the
gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the l ...
did not however turn out as Hertzog might have hoped. The South African pound rose dramatically in value against sterling, and this virtually crippled South Africa's gold export industry overnight. By 1933, Hertzog abandoned the
gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the l ...
and the South African pound returned to parity with sterling. The relief was felt almost immediately The South African pound was replaced during decimalisation by the
rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is finan ...
on 14 February 1961 at a rate of R 2 = £SA 1. The rand retained a 2:1 parity with sterling until sterling's devaluation in 1967 when South Africa did not follow suit.


Coins


State-issued coinage


Transvaal Republic

In 1892, the
Transvaal Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...
introduced coins in denominations of 1d, 3d, 6d, 1/–, 2/–, 2/6, 5/–, £ (10/–) and £1. The last of these coins were issued in 1900, except for siege £1 coins issued in 1902.


Union of South Africa

The Union of South Africa issued coins from 1923, in denominations of d, d, 1d, 3d and 6d, 1/–, 2/– (initially denominated as a '' florin''), 2/6, £ and £1. (The £ and £1 were gold coins known as the
half sovereign The half sovereign is a British gold coin with a nominal value of half of one pound sterling. It is half the weight (and has half the gold content) of its counterpart 'full' sovereign coin. The half sovereign was first introduced in 1544 under He ...
and sovereign respectively.) The coins were the same weights as the corresponding sterling coins but the silver coins (3d up to 2/6) were struck in .800 fineness silver. Gold coins were struck until 1932. In 1947, 5/– coins were introduced, with occasional commemorative variants. In 1951, the silver coinage switched to .500 fineness. Gold bullion £ and £1 coins were issued from 1952 in the same specifications as the and 1 sovereign. All the coins had the monarch on the obverse, with the titles in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, while the reverse had the denomination and "South Africa" written in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
.


Banknotes

The government of the
Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...
issued a £1 note in 1835 and a £20 note in 1834. Between 1869 and 1872, the ZAR in Transvaal issued notes for 6d, 1/–, 2/6, 5/–, 10/–, £1, £5 and £10. The National Bank of the ZAR issued £1 notes between 1892 and 1893. During the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...
, government notes were issued in denominations of £1, £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100. In 1920, Treasury gold certificate notes were issued in denominations of £1, £5, £100, £1,000 and £10,000, in Afrikaans and English script. From 1921, the
South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...
took over the issuance of paper money, introducing notes for 10/–, £1, £5, £20 and £100. £20 notes were last issued in 1933, with £10 notes added in 1943. All banknotes were bilingual in English and Afrikaans. From 1948, two variants of each note were issued, one with English written first and the other with Afrikaans written first.


See also

*
Coins of the South African pound The coins of the South African pound were part of the physical form of South Africa's historical currency, the South African pound. Prior to the Union of South Africa, Union of 1910, various authorities issued their own pounds, some as independen ...
*
South African rand The South African rand, or simply the rand, ( sign: R; code: ZAR) is the official currency of the Southern African Common Monetary Area: South Africa, Namibia (alongside the Namibian dollar), Lesotho (alongside the Lesotho loti) and Eswatin ...
*
Coins of the South African rand The coins of the South African rand are part of the physical form of South Africa's currency, the South African rand. 1961–1964 The rand was introduced in the then Union of South Africa on 14 February 1961, shortly before the establish ...
*
Economy of South Africa The Economy of South Africa is the third largest in Africa and the most industrialized, technologically advanced, and diversified economy in Africa overall. South Africa is an upper-middle-income economy, one of only eight such countries in Africa ...


External links


Decimal Coinage (1962)
Newsreel of South Africa's conversion to the Rand, British Pathé via YouTube


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:South African Pound Currencies of the British Empire Currencies of the Commonwealth of Nations History of South Africa Currencies of Africa Currencies of South Africa Modern obsolete currencies 1961 disestablishments in South Africa Currencies with multiple banknote issuers