VELDPOND: THE TRUE FACTS
PILGRIM’S REST 1902
 
Researcher: Dr Rentia Landman*
 
 
Obverse and reverse of the Veldpond1
 
1. INTRODUCTION
 
Towards the end of the Anglo Boer War, the Boers experienced a critical shortage of money with which they could buy food for the commandos. At Pilgrim’s Rest a group of Boers, existing mainly of pro-Boer foreigners, coined the so-called Veldpond, in the workshop of the Transvaal Gold Mining Estate (TGME),

For almost 100 years, disturbingly incorrect information about the Veldpond was spread. It started with a Dutch teacher, PJ Kloppers, who told journalists and authors of numismatic books that he was the initiator, leader and expert on minting the Veldpond2 . As this one-sided version was consistently repeated without verification, it gained status as the truth.

The actual leader of the team was Field Cornet AGE Pienaar and not Kloppers as he claimed. Kloppers was appointed as only, the acting leader three weeks before the declaration of peace and after medals were already issued in recognition for the work done on the Veldpond. After the war Kloppers also claimed that he made the gold malleable although a master gold essayer was a member of the team and that he hardened and annealed the dies, while a trained blacksmith actually did it. This inaccurate version of the history of the Veldpond obscures the fact that each member of the team was a specialist in his own field and that the honour should not be conferred on one person only.

By reconstructing the process at Pilgrim’s Rest, the author of this article comes to the conclusion that working with gold and minting coins requires specialized knowledge that somebody at Pilgrim’s Rest must have had. A surprising discovery was made that some of the ideas expressed by Jules Perrin in 1874, were put into practice in producing the Veldpond in 1902. Further more it was also discovered that Michael Cooney, the only member of the team who had knowledge of working with gold, has been grossly overlooked in publications about the Veldpond. After a century it is high time that history be rectified so that all the team members be acknowledged for their expertiece in making the Veldpond.

 
 
* This research was done independently and exclusively by dr Rentia Landman. Any claims to the contrary are completely devoid of all truth.
 

1Veldpond in the Absa collection

2 Interviews with Kloppers:

• September 1927, The Star.
• 1933 JT Becklake.
• August 1936, Vaderland.
• Sunday 29 October 1939, interview by P Stoker TAB Aanwins 551.
• 1939 Personal correspondence between Kloppers and professor Arndt. TAB Aanwins 551.
• 1950 CL Engelbrecht in Johannesburg for an article in Opsaal. June 1950.
• 1953 P Stoker in Pretoria for Yskor Nuus. December 1953.