The origin of the South African treasures of Paul Kruger occurs during the Second Boer War between 1899 and 1902, when descendants of the Dutch settlers of Anglo-Boers, realized that the city of Pretoria would be captured by British troops, and they took possession of all the gold from government reserves, coming from banks and mines, which they converted into gold coins.
According to the legend, part of that gold, valued at 1,5 million pounds, was transferred by train, via Mozambique, by Paul Kruger, who was president of the Republic of South Africa and leader of the Boer resistance against the United Kingdom, who then traveled to France without taking the gold, giving rise to the mysterious disappearance of the treasure.
The treasure known as Kruger’s millions consists of an indeterminate number of gold coins, each with the image of Paul Kruger and were minted in order to finance the struggle of his people against the British Empire.
Year 1900 pounds are 95% pure gold with an alloy of another metal, since pure gold is very soft. Its value is given by the connection with the history of South Africa, not so much by its weight.
It is presumed that the treasure was hidden in the North Eastern Transvaal, which could have been buried by Kruger somewhere in the Province of Mpulanga next to the Blyde River, in the present territory of Mozambique, with the purpose that at the end of the war it would become the Boers’ economic sustenance.
Another theory states that an important part of the treasure was used to finance the rest of the war, and it is presumed that Kruger and his company took possession a good amount by taking it to Europe by ship when they went into exile. The loot includes gold coins, gold ingots, gold dust, silver bullion and coins, which is currently valued at 250.000.000.00 million dollars.
In 2001, when South Africa was in full gold fever, a businessman made a discovery near Ermelo, a box with gold coins that is presumed to be part of Paul Kruger’s treasure, and that after its extraction was stolen from him.
For more than a century the treasure hunters directed their efforts to find Kruger’s Treasure, which according to the legend of a soldier had been commissioned to bury the treasure in a secret location.
On the other hand, experts assure that the gold coins were in the train and the creditors were informed of the event, so they went to be paid and all the coins were used to cancel the debts, leaving no coins to be buried.
Paul Kruger’s treasure continues to be a legend as there is no way to prove any of the stories, since experts claim that the small amounts of coins found belonged to farmers who buried them to protect them and that does not correspond to the loot buried by the legendary soldier.
ALFA