In 1853 the South African Republic Volksraad received its first petition for an indigenous coinage. It was not until 1874 that the President of the South African Republic, Thomas François Burgers responded to such a request. He sent 300 ounces of gold to J.J. Pratt, the Republic's Consul-General in London with a request that coins the size of the English sovereign be struck. Pratt contracted with Heatons to strike the coins as requested. Two batches of coins were struck – the first batch of 695 coins became known as the "fine beard" type and the second batch of 142 coins being known as the "coarse beard" type.