I always wanted to know, what's the reason behind the ghost circles/spirals in the Kruger ZAR silver 1, 2, & 2.5 shillings? Not all have it, but a fair number do- more than any other type of coin from what I've seen. Looks like the metal itself is not toning there, but is it something in their minting process that made that happen or is it from post mint handling/storing in some way? BTW, Photos ripped off from Ebay- sorry if one belongs to you.
Wow. I. Have. No. Idea. That's interesting. I've never noticed these, and if I had seen just one example, I'd have immediately assumed "machine damage". But since it appears to be a common occurrence ... well ... I dunno? *shrug* Now I'm gonna look more closely when I see ZAR silver coins! One fun thing I do know about (and you may as well) is the preponderance of trench art pieces from the Boer War, where Oom Paul Kruger had a variety of hats carved onto his head, and a big meerschaum, Sherlock Holmes-style pipe stuck in his mouth. (I wonder if he really smoked a pipe? Maybe.)
