Money came to the Cape with the Dutch East India Company in 1652, but for a long time there was never enough of it, and much of the colony’s trade was done by barter and on credit [IC]. This page follows money at the Cape from the first coins to the Overberg’s own banks, and shows how, from 1793, money became tied to land: owning property meant being able to borrow. See Money and Land.
What the letters in square brackets mean
Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.
- [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by at least two sources that do not depend on each other, or by an official record.
- [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from the institution’s own records, histories, or statements, or from one community’s own sources. It has not been checked against sources that do not depend on them.
- [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it yet.
At a glance
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1652 | Company coins and a mix of foreign coins come to the Cape [IC] |
| 1782 | The first paper money, in rixdollars [IC] |
| 1793 | The Bank van Leening lends against property and gold [IC] |
| 1806 to 1825 | The rixdollar falls from 4 shillings to 1s 6d [IC] |
| 1 January 1826 | British sterling becomes the Cape’s official money [IC] |
| 1834 to 1838 | Slaveholders are paid compensation; freed people receive nothing [IC] |
| 1841 | The rixdollar is officially withdrawn [IC] |
| 1852 and 1861 | The Swellendam Bank and the Caledon Agricultural Bank open [TBV] |
| 1877 and 1878 | Standard Bank takes both over [TBV] |
Coins and paper
The company kept its accounts in guilders and rixdollars, a rixdollar being worth 48 stivers [IC]. Coins were always short at the Cape, and people used a mix of Dutch and foreign coins [IC]. In 1782 Governor Joachim van Plettenberg issued the first paper money, handwritten notes in rixdollars and stivers [IC]. Paper soon drove the few coins out of use [IC]. Between 1788 and 1791 the amount of paper money grew fast, the rixdollar lost value, and the colony went through its first financial crash, with income per person falling by about a fifth [IC].
A bank that lent against land
On 15 March 1793 the company opened the Bank van Leening, a lending bank [IC]. It lent money at 5% a year, against security that was mainly property and gold [IC]. This linked money to land. From now on, a landowner could turn land into cash by borrowing against it. People who held no land, including the Khoekhoe and the enslaved, could not.
British money
Britain took the Cape in 1795, and for good in 1806 [IC]. The paper rixdollar kept falling. It was worth about 4 shillings in 1806 and was fixed at 1 shilling and 6 pence in 1825, which ruined many people who had savings or loans in rixdollars [IC]. On 1 January 1826 British sterling became the Cape’s official money [IC]. The rixdollar was withdrawn in 1841, but country people still spoke of rixdollars and stivers more than a century later [IC].
Slave compensation
At the Cape, enslaved people had been treated as property that could be mortgaged [IC]. When slavery ended in 1834 to 1838, the British government paid slaveholders compensation [IC]. Much of it was collected through agents in London, and claims were often sold at a discount [IC]. Historian Kate Ekama shows that the compensation money helped fund a property boom and new banks and insurance companies at the Cape [IC]. The people who had been enslaved received nothing [IC]. Many of them came to the mission stations, including Genadendal, looking for land and a home [IC].
The Overberg’s banks
In the 1850s and 1860s, country towns opened their own banks. The Swellendam Bank opened in 1852 and issued its own £5 notes [TBV]. The Caledon Agricultural Bank opened in 1861 [TBV]. Standard Bank took over the Swellendam Bank in 1877 and the Caledon bank in 1878 [TBV]. What these banks lent against, and whether any mission residents could borrow from them, has not yet been researched.
What is still open
- When coins and notes first came into everyday use at Genadendal and Greyton.
- Whether residents of the mission villages, without title deeds, had any access to credit.
- What the Overberg banks lent against.
Related
References
- Havemann, R. and Fourie, J. Colonial Africa’s first financial crash, 1788 to 1793. Economic Research Southern Africa. Paper money from 1782, the crash, and the Bank van Leening.
- Dictionary of South African English. Rix-dollar. Its value, its fall, its withdrawal in 1841, and its later use in speech.
- UK Parliament (Hansard). Currency at the Cape of Good Hope (19 May 1826). The rixdollar’s fall from 4s to 1s 6d.
- Western Cape Numismatic Society. South African numismatic firsts since 1652. Paper money in 1782 and sterling from 1 January 1826.
- Ekama, K. (2025). “Emancipation and the Business of Compensation in the Cape Colony”. Enterprise and Society.
- The Heritage Portal. Victorian-era banknotes of towns of the south-western Cape. The Swellendam and Caledon banks.