An 1892 Double Shaft Pond In Superb Condition. An article published in the 'Rapport' newspaper on 31 January 1999 had shown that over a five year period between 1993 and 1998 the Double Shaft 1892 Kruger Pond greq at a staggering rate of 64% per annum.. Thats a total growth of over 700% over a five year period . Gold is an investment that has lasted for centuries while all other currencies have come and gone. The double shaft was only minted in 1892 and when realising the mistake of depicting the Voortrekker wagon with a double shaft the coins were immediately withdrawn and mintage stopped . This immediately made the coin a collectors item.
The reverse of this coin is almost flawless as can be seen from the above photo.. Gold
The front of the coin is beautiful and crisp. Paul Kruger still has all hair in tact . There is however light scratching at the 12 o'clock and six o'clock position. There is light minimal bruising on this part of the rim. This could affect grading of an otherwise flawlessly beautiful coin .
History of the 1892 Double Shaft
Facing an upcoming election and wanting the new coins in circulation to enhance his prestige, President Kruger didn’t wait for the Pretoria Mint to be completed. Instead, he contracted to have the first issue of new ZAR coins (dated 1892) struck at the Imperial German Mint in Berlin. This proved a mistake, as the dies were cut with two glaring mistakes that insulted the populace and proved quite embarrassing to Kruger and the National Bank. Designer Otto Schultz, following a common practice, placed his initials ‘OS’ at the truncation of Kruger’s bust
Unfortunately, os is the Afrikaans word for ‘ox’, and new dies had to be hastily prepared omitting the initials. Even more damaging was the incorrect depiction of the Voortrekker wagon in which so many families had come to their new home. This kind of vehicle traditionally had a single hitching shaft protruding from its front, and its rear wheels were much larger than the front ones. Schultz instead depicted it with a double shaft and wheels of equal size throughout - this type of wagon was commonly used by Gypsies in Europe - and hardly flattering to the hardship and pride of the boers . 10,000 half-pound coins were struck and 16,000 of the one-pound pieces.
Reacting quickly, Kruger had the embarrassing error coins withdrawn and replaced with another issue of the same date but with the errors corrected. As people do with any coins which they believe will become rare, they hoarded the initialed, double-shafted coins in large numbers. This effectively ended their circulation, and made them highly sought after.
The double shaft was only minted in 1892 and when realising the mistake of depicting the Voortrekker wagon with a double shaft the coins were immediately withdrawn and mintage stopped . This immediately made the coin a collectors item.
