Information about effigy: Paul Kruger by Otto Schultz

The gold finds in Transvaal gave the Boers the opportunity to start minting their own coins. President Kruger requested a law to found a national bank, which also stated that South African money should be modeled after British money. Since the country did not have a mint, they assigned the task of minting the first Zuidafrikaanse Ponde (South African Pond, or Pound) to the Berlin Mint.

Thus Berlin medallist Otto Schultz designed the coins, whose obverse is also being used by the modern Krugerrand. For the Krugerrand, the portrait was adapted from the design of Otto Schultz by South African Mint designer Tommy Sasseen.