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Thomas François Burgers (1834–1881) was the fourth president of the South African Republic (Transvaal) from 1872 to 1877. The first coins of the Transvaal Burgerspond were introduced by Burgers in 1874, responding to a demand for coinage from the populace dating back to 1853. Burgers sent a portrait of himself to his UK consul-general, who commissioned the coins to be struck at Heaton's Mint in Birmingham, England. Some people in the South African Republic objected to the issue of the Burgerspond because the portrayal of the president on coins was perceived to liken him to a dictator. This one-pound coin, minted in 1874, bears an effigy of Burgers on the obverse and the coat of arms of the Transvaal on the reverse.Coin design credit: Heaton's Mint; photographed by Andrew Shiva