introduction to the history and money in south africa

1. The history of money and
banking in South Africa

2.  Money has been around for a very long time and a large number of
items have served as money.
 For example: beads made from shells were used by the North
Americans, Indians used brightly coloured shells and whale’s teeth were
used in Fiji.

3. Early African money
 In 1000 BCE the Greeks started using small iron bars called obole as money and as
a result iron pieces in the form of small bars (ingots) or wire pieces were
eventually used in many parts of Africa.
 Then in the 1600s the Katanga cross was used and it was.
 The Katanga cross was used when expensive items such as goats and cattle

4. obole ingots

5. Indigenous
 No one knows for certain how long money has been in existence, but as far back
as we can remember people used bartering as a medium of exchange.
 And bartering took the role of money.
 For example: an individual would barter a sheep in exchange for a cattle, but
these items were not always durable.
 Thus pieces of iron and copper were more desirable.
 The iron was often used in the form of a spear and arrow points.

6. Colonial money
 During the 1600s money in he form of coins from various European countries
were used.
 The traders and sailors believed that all coins of good quality were accepted
irrespective of the countries they come from. This caused a lot o confusion.
 The economic conditions in the cape were poor because the DEIC (Dutch East
India Company) control of all the trade with passing ships and the citizens could
not sell enough of their agricultural goods to earn money.
 As a result of the shortage in money Governor van Plettenbergh printed the first
notes in the Cape of Good Hope in 1782 known as the rix-dollars.
 Too many notes were issued and their value dropped rapidly and as a result the
people later effused to accept it as a store of vale and medium of exchange.

7. Imperial money
 Although the rix-dollar was still used as a legal tender, the sterling started
coming into circulation and it was used more and more in the Cape and
ion the Natal.
 The history of money of Gauteng previously known as the Transvaal was
different from that of the Cape and Natal. This is because the Transvaal
had rich gold deposits.
 The Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek had gold pounds minted in London in
1874, and then put them into circulation.
 The Pretoria mint was established in 1892 and in 1893 it began minting
the world famous Kruger pounds.
 The South African mint was established in Pretoria, which was a branch of
the Royal London Mint.

8.  Full control of the South African mint was transferred to the government in 1941.
 In 1988 its name was changed to the South African Mint Company Pty Ltd.