Collecting

My American grandfather collected gold coins. Well, it would be more accurate to say that he included gold coins in his investment portfolio. Having lived through 1933, when the US government restricted private gold ownership to rare or collectible coins, and having served in World War II, he understood the value of gold

The coins were sold after he died, becoming part of my grandmother’s estate.

My father also collected coins. In his case, it was the coins of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek. This was an independent Boer republic in Southern Africa that existed between 1852 to 1902. After the Second Boer war it was absorbed in the British Empire as the Transvaal Colony and later became part of South Africa.

Between 1892 and 1900 the republic minted its own coins.

I never really understood why he, as an Englishman, collected the coins of the Boer republic.

Growing up, I clearly inherited the collecting bug. I had collections of shells, rocks, stamps, magazines and books. Even today, I like sets of things.

Looking back, I have realised that there was a certain genius to his collecting.

• There is a finite set to collect.
• The collection can started cheaply.
• The Half Pond and Pond are more valuable, because they are minted in gold.

And once the collection of the common coins is complete, you can start to specialise.
There are coins struck with a Double wagon shaft motief in addition to the more common Single wagon shaft coins.
The Sammy Marks Tickey. Minted in gold, with only 215 struck.
The 1899 Pond, Double 9 with only 130 stuck.

And even once you have collected all the variations, the collection will not be complete.

The pinacle is an 1899 Single 9 Pond coin. Only one was ever produced. Last time it was sold in 2025 , it reached a price of forty million Rand.

So in all likelyhood, it would be a collection that you would never complete.

The perfect collection?