If you are a South African numismatic the name Sasseen should be familiar to you ... You are thinking of the South African coin engraver Tommy Sasseen . TS
Sasseen & Co, were fruit merchants and commission agents trading from Market Buildings and 231/225 Van der Walt Street and were sole agents for the Deciduous Fruit Board. (1)
The son of the proprietor, Tommy Sasseen, became the chief die sinker at the Pretoria mint and was responsible for many of the designs on present-day South African coins.
These tokens however trace their existence back to his father who commissioned them around 1938.
The Tokens was actually struck at the SA Mint .
Cataloque P. 211, letters from the Pretoria Mint 16/6/66"Messrs. Sasseen & Co. were Market Agents handling the sale of grapes consigned from the Cape.
The aluminium and fiber tokens were used as deposits on bushel baskets of grapes purchased- the money being refunded when the baskets were returned.
In his book Theron describes these as extremely rare and that the only specimens he has seen where in the Africana museum. Now with the Internet they are seen sometimes but most definitely scares !
About Tokens: 5 Types where minted :
- Type 1 an Aluminium 3 shillings(over stamped) 27.3mm Diameter and 1.4mm Thick Hern 490a
- Type 2 a red brown fiber 3 shillings (over stamped) and in the case above cancelled with a cross. 27.3mm Diameter and 2 mm Thick Hern 490b
- Type 3 a Copper 3/- shillings , 28.2mm Diameter and 1.6mm Thick Hern 490c ( If you want to sell yours please contact me ! )
- Type 4 and 5 a hexagonal grey fiber 3 shillings Type 4 with over stamped "2" and Type 5 , no over stamped. 26.mm Diameter and 1.5mm Thick Hern 490d & 490e
A few interesting facts about Tommy Sasseen ...
- Born 4 June 1932
- One of South Africa’s first home-grown die sinkers.
- Started working at the Mint in 1950
- Left the mint in 1957 , went to Pretoria Metal Art.
- Rejoined the Mint in 1959
- Was given the task of adapting Schultz’s and Steynberg’s original designs for the master dies of the 1967 Krugerrand. - He engraved the Comrades marathon medallion .
- He designed the Rhodesian 1964 ( Zimbabwe ) coinage .
- He designed Swaziland's coinage 1968
- March 1975 he resigned from the Mint
See some of his work here at World of Coins...http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,42543.0.html
(1) Hortgro has its roots in the Deciduous Fruit Board that was established in 1939 as a regulatory body to manage the industry. With the deregulation of agriculture in 1997, it morphed into the Deciduous Fruit Producers’ Trust and later became known as Hortgro. Hortgro is a levy-funded industry body servicing primarily its main members, stone fruit, and apple and pear producers, as well as other horticultural groups.
(2)On 24 August 1891 a number of businessmen of the Capital of the Transvaal Republic met and decided to form the Pretoria Chamber of Business. Shortly after the formation of the Chamber, the Anglo Boer War broke out
Special thanks to family members who supplied me with some information. ( Debbie & Caroline )
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