TOPIC:

Gouvernement’s Noten were the paper currency issued by the ZAR Government during the Boer War. The first issue (May 1900) was made from Pretoria, the second in 1901 from Pietersburg and the final issue, produced in Pilgrim’s Rest in early 1902 and issued from wherever the Government had hitched its tents during the final stages of the war.

Contrary to popular belief, Gouvernement’s Noten were not brought into circulation because Kruger and his Government had run out of money. As a matter of fact, the Government’s financial position was very much better by the time the first Gouvernement’s Noot hit the streets of Pretoria than at the beginning of the war, courtesy of a number of goldmines operating for the Government’s account. The true reason for the issue of the Gouvernement’s Noten was the fact that the Government fully realized that financial assets were essential to keep the war efforts going and that from that perspective it was crucial to preserve the ZAR reserves of gold coins and bullion as long as possible. In this regard a number of, sometimes controversial, decisions were taken, the most important of which was to ship the bulk of ZAR gold reserves to Holland. This decision, coincidentally, was taken well before Smuts’ final dash to retrieve the remaining gold from the coffers of the Mint and Nationale Bank in the early days of June 1900.

It is in this context that from May 1900 ZAR commando units in the field found themselves with a stack of Gouvernement’s Noten to pay for sustenance and other necessities. Noten were universally hated by recipients (“hakskeenpleisters”) who distrusted the Government’s future ability to exchange them into coin. Because of this, Noten were only reluctantly accepted, at steep discounts to face value and/or because loaded Mausers in the hands of desperate men provided a convincing argument to do so. In effect Gouvernement’s Noten used in the field could be considered little more than an IOU issued by the ZAR Government and only differ from the manuscript IOUs proffered by the OVS commandos in that they were pre-printed and had a set value.

Gouverment’s Noten used by the Boers in the field form a very small minority of the Noten that survive to these days. The few that have come to market over recent years are often in a condition that would make one reach for snuffbox and hand-sanitizer, possibly the reason for which such examples sell for less than their uncirculated brethren sealed in plastic with a grading number and a silly logo.

From a historical perspective the Noten used by the Boers in the field are more interesting than most others. A Noot used in payment by a commando always carries a text on the reverse to state it was issued for a valid reason and then signed (but never dated) by an officer usually indicating his rank and commando. Research to date indicates that the Swazieland, Utrecht and Piet Retief commandos were the most prolific users of these Noten in payment but because of the suspected high attrition rate, this assertion may be wrong.

Over the next few posts I intend to present a few Gouvernements Noten that were used by the commandos in the field and, to the extent possible, will provide some circumstantial information. If any forum member owns one of these Noten, please contribute to this thread as this will assist with further research into this topic.

Below example is a 1 Pond Noot from the Pretoria issue.



The text on the noot read: Op eerlijke wijze ontvangen, (sgnd) J.A.D. Kruger Commandant Swazieland. (Received for honest reasons..)
The Noot was used in payment by the Swazieland Commando and is signed by J.A.D. Kruger, at the time of payment Commandant of the Swazieland Commando. Because the date of his promotion to Commandant is known, this Pretoria Noot would have been issued after the end of September 1901, i.e. months after the Pietersburg Noten entered circulation. Anecdotally, J.A.D. Kruger is the only Boer officer known (to me) to have made payments in Noten of all three issues (Pretoria, Pietersburg and Pilgrim’s Rest).



Jacobus Andries Frederick Kruger (ABO, DTD, :int voor Verwonden) is one of those half-sung Boer officers that would probably have a DSO and a few statues in Britain if he had been British and fighting on the other side. Jacobus was born in 1871 as the son of Daniel Frederik Kruger (1836-1878) and Catharina Johanna Cecilia Jansen van Rensburg (1846-?) and grew up with 10 siblings on the farm Rietvlei in the Potchefstroom District. Aged 20, he joined the Transvaal Staats Artillerie but sometime later switched over to serve with the Swazieland Rijdende Politie. Jacobus entered the war with the rank of Police Sergeant under Generaal Chris Botha (Commandant of the Sawzieland Politie). He fought with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in important battles (Colenso, Bosrand, Pietershoogte, Helpmekaar, Scheepersnek, Allemansnek and many others) was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in August 1901 and shortly after the battle of Talene (itala) appointed Commandant of the Swazieland Commando. Jacobus Kruger was seriously wounded on multiple occasions and stayed in the field to the bitter end. Kruger married twice, firstly with Rosina Adrian Lewies (1894) and after Rosina's death, with Anna Magdalena Du Plooy (1902). J.A.D. Kruger died in 1957, aged 85, in Ludritz (South West Africa) and was buried in the cemetery of Keetmanshoop.

Barend Hendrik Breytenbach was born in 1862 in the District of Utrecht as son of Jan Andries Nicolaas Bretyenbach (1823-1892) and his wife Anna Susanna Breytenbach-Beukes (1828-1901). Barend had nine siblings. At 17 he joined a Vrijwiligers Korps under Piet Uijs and, from age 19, was involved in various battles against the Zulus. Barend Breytenbach fought as Korporaal during the First Boer War of 1880-1881 and was elected Veld Cornet of a Wijk of the Utrecht Commando in 1894. In 1887 Barend married at the farm Geelhoutboom the then 20 year old Maria Elizabeth van Deventer with whom he had 4 children.
VC Breytenbach entered the Anglo Boer War with his Utrecht commando under General Lucas Meyer and was involved in many of the great battles in Natal. Barend was appointed Kommandant of the Utrecht commando in the later stages of the war and was elected by the Burgers of that commando to represent them at the Peace Negotiations where he voted for Peace. Barend died in 1933 aged 70 in Louwsburg, Natal. (Louwsburg is a small, scenic town near the Ithala game reserve, about 100 km east of Utrecht,)

Below, a 1 Pond Pietersburg Noot used by Barend Breytenbach in payment for unspecified goods “voor Commando dienst” which can be loosely translated as “for use by the commando.” Barend signed this as VC, I have not (yet) encountered Gouvernements Noten that he signed as Kommandant.




Geelhoutboom 65 (yellow wood tree) is located a few miles NE of Utrecht. This is the farm where Barend married Maria Elizabeth van Deventer in 1887.


One of the signatures of Barend Breytenbach in a document relating to the peace negotiations in Klerksdorp and Vereeniging.

Note that Breytenbach lists his rank as VC notwithstanding the fact that he had been appointed Kommandant some time before. This may also explain why no Gouvernements Noten with him signing as Kommandant have dropped from the woodworks as yet.