Gallery

In 1898 Marks was allowed the extraordinary privilege of using the state mint for a day. Marks used the opportunity to strike 215 gold tickeys – three-penny pieces that were normally silver – as mementos for his relatives and friends, including President Kruger and members of the Volksraad. The gold would certainly have come from the Sheba mine near Barberton, the only gold mine in which Marks had a substantial stake. This famous incident says much about the close relationship that these two men had. There was often a blurring of the boundary between personal and State property. Their relationship was almost feudal, as that of a king and highly regarded subject. Besides President Kruger, Marks enjoyed the trust of the Boer Generals Botha, De Wet, and de la Rey, and the respect of Earl Roberts, Lord Kitchener, and Lord Milner, and he played a not inconsiderable part in the negotiations for the cessation of Anglo-Boer hostilities at Vereeniging on 29 May 1902.

The Sammy Marks Tickey

President Reitz of the Free State and President Kruger of the ZAR on the occasion of the joining of the Transvaal and Free State by railway, 21 May 1892. Sammy Marks stands fifth from the right.

Sammy Marks, Barnet Lewis, Isaac Lewis

Aerial photo of Swartkoppies taken by Neville Jackobson in about 1990