Information on Gold Krugerrand
The Krugerrand is a legal tender gold bullion coin of the South Africa Reserve Bank, whose value in commerce is linked to the daily market price of gold. South Africa began minting the Krugerrand in 1967 to help expand the market for the country's gold production by offering the public a convenient way to buy, hold and sell gold.
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Krugerrand Specifications
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The Krugerrand was conceived by the South African government as a circulating gold coin. As a result, the South African Mint made the coin of 22 carat gold consisting of 916.67 parts gold alloyed with 83.33 parts copper for durability. The coin's 32.69 mm diameter, 2.74 mm thickness and weight of 33.93 grams were chosen to ensure it contained exactly one troy ounce of gold.
Coin's Obverse
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The coin's obverse features a left-facing profile view of Paul Kruger, a Boer leader and national hero of South Africa, designed by South African sculptor Coert Steynberg. The obverse also carries the country's name in South Africa's two official languages, English and Afrikaans.
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Coin's Reverse
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The reverse features a springbok, an antelope native to South Africa that's a national symbol. Surrounding the leaping animal is the coin's designation as a Krugerrand, a combination of Kruger's name and South Africa's monetary unit, the rand. The reverse also carries the minting year and the gold content.
Pioneering Coin Concept
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The Krugerrand was the first 1 oz. gold bullion coin from a national government, says Monex Precious Metals, and it initially enjoyed market success. But global economic sanctions because of South Africa's racial segregation policies impaired the Krugerrand's marketability during the 1970s and 1980s. The end of apartheid in 1994, says Monex, allowed the Krugerrand to regain its status as a leading bullion coin.
Krugerrand's Competitors
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South African Mint gold supplier Rand Refinery said as of 2008 some 46 million oz. of gold had been made into Krugerrands, more than any other gold coin in the world. But the Krugerrand's success inspired other gold-producing countries to issue their own 1 oz. legal tender gold bullion coins. Gold buyers can also choose the Canadian Maple Leaf, United States Eagle, Australian Nugget or Great Britain's Britannia, among others.
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References
- Photo Credit gold coins image by OMKAR A.V from Fotolia.com
