1896 Imitation 1 Pond - Paul Kruger token - Z.A.R - A very good example of these gambling tokens .

The imitation Ponde ( Yes not POUNDS) were used as gaming counters.

Coat of arms of the Z.A. Republic (similar to Z.A. Republic gold Pond. Legend above: “1 POND * 1896 *”. On a ribbon below, the motto of the Z.A. Republic replaced by: "IMITATION KRUGER SOVEREIGN"

The dies used for this imitation Pond have at some time been harshly cleaned. This had resulted in a loss of definition , most noticeable in the hatching on the coat of arms.

There are 13 known varieties of the 1 Pond imitation. Paul Withers has numbered these 2-14 (1 being for the 1/2 Pond which is a actual scares token to get ) and this numbering has been used here.

The varieties have been made from combinations of 10 different obverse die types and 8 different reverse die types. The dies types have been numbered; 1-10 in the obverse description and 1-8 in the reverse description. The differences are sometimes minor.

The imitation Ponde were not well made. The composition of the alloy, the diameter and the weight vary considerably.

Reference: (1) Paul Withers, ‘Kruger Pond Imitations’, Galata Print Ltd., 2002. (2) Michael Laidlaw,

Hern: 462; Laidlaw: 0210e;