was the first coin to have been struck for any entity that later became part of South Africa. In 1853, the South African Republic Volksraad received its first petition for an indigenous coinage. It was not until 1874 that the President of the South African Republic, Thomas François Burgers responded to such a request. He sent 300 ounces of gold to J.J. Pratt, the Republic's Consul-General in London with a request that coins the size of the English sovereign be struck. Pratt contracted with Heatons to strike the coins as requested. Two batches of coins were struck – the first batch of 695 coins became known as the fine beard type and the second batch of 142 coins being known as the coarse beard type. When the first issue (the fine beard variety) was presented to members of the Volksraad some scorned the coins that carried Burger's image. The symbolism represented foolish pride to a very religious community, but others supported Pratt for producing the first coinage for the Republic. Kruger Coins of 1892–1900 The discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand in 1885 turned the South African Republic from an impoverished state dominated by farmers to one where fortunes could be made from mining. In 1892 President Kruger, facing an election campaign, ordered the building of a mint and the striking of the republic's first full coinage series. The government, which contained a number of Hollanders and Germans, debated whether to base the Republic's coinage on the British coinage or whether to introduce a decimal coinage. Eventually it was decided to adopt the British coinage system as the basis of the Republic's system. There were 12 pence in one shilling, and 20 shillings in one pond. These coins depict the portrait of the President Kruger. The name of the Republic was the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, which was abbreviated as ZAR on the obverse of the 1d, the 2s, the 5s, the 1/2 pond, and the 1 pond. The coins of the 1892 issue were struck at the Royal Prussian Mint in Berlin. The others were struck at the South African Republic's Mint in Pretoria. There are two types of Kruger coins: Single Shaft and Double Shaft, which is derived from the wagon depicted in the Republic's Coat of arms. The Double Shaft coins are known by the nickname Disselboom, which is Afrikaans for Double Shaft. The 1892 Single Shaft pond coin