This set contains four gold Krugerrand coins - a full ounce, and three fractional pieces - half, quarter, and tenth Krugerrand, all with GRC mint mark..
In a rare exception, the coins were struck (under licence from the South African Mint) by the Gold Reef City Mint in Johannesburg, on the historic "Oom Paul" ("Uncle Paul") coin press which it operated between 1986 and 1996. The press was originally manufactured in 1891 for use in the first mint established in Pretoria in 1892; it is still operational, and is now one of the oldest working coin presses in the world. Its name comes from the nickname of President Paul Kruger, who ordered the press for the ZAR Mint. The ZAR Mint was closed down when the British forces occupied Pretoria in 1900, and the press was later moved to the newly opened Royal Mint branch in Pretoria in 1923, which later became the South African Mint.
In 1986, “Oom Paul” was moved from the Mint in Visage Street to the new “Johannesburg Mint” at the local theme park named Gold Reef City (GRC) which is a re-creation of historical Johannesburg as it was in the hey-days of gold pioneering. The GRC Mint was built to fit-in with the theme of the Park and thus is an exact reduced replica of the old Royal Mint in Pretoria. Here, “Oom Paul” was used to strike thousands of GRC mintmarked Krugerrands.
When the new modern Mint in Centurion opened its retail outlet called Coin World in 1996, “Oom Paul” was relocated back to Pretoria where it currently resides, fully functional and minting coins like new bi-metal R5 with a special “CW” mintmark for visitors. |