2008 R5 Oom Paul

2008 R5 Oom Paul Minting Press

Coinworld Mintmark

This is one of the oldest working coin presses in the world with a manufacturing date of 1891. President Paul Kruger, then the President of the old ZAR (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek) ordered two presses from Ludw. Loew & Co. in Berlin to be used at the first South African Mint on Church Square, Pretoria.

More than 8 million coins were minted between 1892 and 1900 on the "Oom Paul". The so called "Kruger millions", Sammy Marks golden tickeys, special 1947 crowns for the visit of the British Royal family, the first decimal 1c coins in 1961, the first Krugerrand in 1967, the first gold Protea in 1986 and the first R2 coin were minted on this historical press. The first of South Africa's various other new 24-carat gold coin series were also launched on this press.
"Oom Paul" has survived two wars, been worked on five different premises and was involved in the manufacturing of four coin series and various other prestigious items. This is the only remaining press of its kind in the world.
How does the "Oom Paul" operate?
 

• "Oom Paul" was originally steam operated, but has been modified to work on electricity.
• Blanks are automatically, or in some cases, manually fed into the coining press.
• The coin press is nothing more than a heavy-duty piece of machinery to drive one die down towards a second die.
• The planchet in between the dies, receives the impact and the metal flows into the design in each die, whilst simultaneously expanding the collar.
• The collar imparts the serrations or flat edge to the coins as necessary.
• 60 coins per minute can be minted on the "Oom Paul".

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