DUCHEN & KLEINMAN from Dannhauser, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa
Scarce old token from the former British Colony - Used ca. 1921-1927
Dan Duchen stores, established in 1914, became Duchen and Kleinman .
DNC stands for Durban Navigation Collieries(Durnacol) started as a coal mine in 1895 providing coal for steam ships in the port of Durban but then later mined high quality coking coal for the South Iron and Steel Corp., Iscor.
Interesting Article to read HERE
It has been suggested that the tokens where even used at the mine stores.
Dannhauser is a former coal mining town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Cattle and sheep farming take place in the district. The town of Dannhauser was named after Renier Dannhauser, a German settler, who purchased the farm Palmietfontein from the Natal Government in 1872. It was proclaimed a village in 1937.
Contemporary Dannhauser covers five farms, namely Tweediedale, Gleneagles, Rocky Branch, Cornwall and Klipkuil. Durnacol housing is relatively cheap now as the coal mines there are redundant.
The town consists of one main street, and the main shops are the post office, bank, pharmacy and some grocery and hardware stores. WikiPedia
About the Tokens :
Above was made out of brass, is holed (like many of them where) and above example is counter stamped with a "39".
It is believed the overstamp tokens were used as identification discs for cattle on Mr. Duchens Farm.
The tokens of Dan Duchen known, have 5/~ Shilling, 3/~ Shilling, 6d, & 3d in the set but no 2/~ Shilling and 1/~ Shilling. Many of these tokens have seen a lot of use and are very worn.
The Firm of Dan Duchen became Duchen & Kleinman who continued using the "DD" tokens, but also added their own tokens then as they became necessary.
They also added a 2 Shilling and a 1 Shilling to the Set.
D & K sets have slightly bigger tokens than those for the same values in the D.D set.
Herns Handbook on S.African Tokens , 24,4mm and 1.9mm thick . Two set (versions) was made. Set two has a elaborate D K type logo.
Duchen Brothers
EDIT : 14/06/2023 A mail received requesting some assistance regarding tokens from DD and D&K , How awesome to know that there is still some family connection to these tokens ... Hello,
I am contacting you on behalf of David Duchen, who is the son of Dan Duchen and the nephew of Jacob Kleiman, who operated concession stores in Natal mine towns about 100 years ago. David is a very fit and active 93 year old and lives in Sydney, Australia with his family. We are currently working together on his memoir and I came across mention of the tokens associated with his family’s business in Dannhauser, where David was born. The information was very interesting. David remembers dealing with the tokens when he assisted in his father’s stores at Dannhauser when he was home for the school holidays. He went to school at the Marist Brothers Observatory school in Johannesburg.
Edit 06/07/2023
My Reply : If possible please keep us here in SA in the loop in so far as the memoir's are concerned and maybe small snippets regarding the tokens as that is our interest.
All the best to David Duchen and family and extend our (Token Collectors) thanks for the interesting tokens they provided us so many years ago.
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