Of course, you know a "Krugerrand" is a gold bullion coin minted by South Africa, But do you know how it got it's name? Johannesburg is built on the site where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. The African word for the site is Witwatersrand which translates to White-waters-ridge. In 1961, coinciding with the establishment of the Republic of South Africa, the pound was replaced by a new monetary unit, the rand. With all the gold mined from the ridge, something had to be done with it. They came up with an ingenious way to market the gold.. It was decided to create a gold coin that contains a full ounce of gold. This new gold coin would not have a denomination on it. In order to be able to sell the gold coins to United States of America citizens, they gave the coin "legal tender" status in South Africa. It would was introduced to the world in 1967. That coin is the "Krugerrand": The "Krugerrand" gets its name from the fact that the obverse shows the face of Paul Kruger, the first president of the old South African Republic. The reverse depicts a springbok antelope, one of the national symbols of South Africa that was designed by George Kruger Gray and used on the reverse of the earlier 5 shilling South African coinage for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. The name "South Africa" and the gold content are printed in both Afrikaans and English. The success of the "Krugerrand" led to many other gold-producing nations minting their own bullion coins, including the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf in 1979, the Australian Nugget in 1981, and the American Gold Eagle in 1986. Here's a photo link: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img11/151-73&desc=South%20Africa%20km73%201%20Krugerrand%20(1967%2B)%201%20ounce%20gold%20bullion Clinker
Clinker,the 1/10,1/4,& 1/2 Krugerrand were introduced in 1980.However,in the 1980's,someone set up a private mint & struck some commemorative Krugerrand pieces in .999 fine silver inscribed 'KRUGERRAND COMMEMORATIVE' & '1967-1982'.There have been other dates reported,especially the 1983,which I have got. The obverse of the silver Krugerrand is inscribed incorrectly as 'STEFANS JOHANNES KRUGER'.There is no reference to South Africa anywhere on the coin.The portrait is in high relief.The silver Krugerrand is in coinage alignment. The pronking springbok design was not by George Kruger-Gray (as he had died in 1943),but by Coert Steynberg,who was a famous South African sculptor who died in around 1982. The Rand replaced the South African Pound in February 1961,whereas,the Republic of South Africa was declared by the then Prime Minister,Hendrik Verwoerd on the 31st of May 1961 & South Africa was forced out of the British Commonwealth as a result. The Krugerrand is the only South African coin whose basic design hasn't changed even after the return of South Africa to the British Commonwealth in 1994.There has been a few privy marks & mintmarks added to the Krugerrand from time to time,but these mintmarked & privy marked coins are pretty scarce. Aidan.
Remember,the Krugerrand weighs slightly more than 1 oz. troy,as it is of 22 carat gold - the same fineness as the British Sovereign.They're unfortunately not popular over here in New Zealand,as being of impure gold,dealers have to add 12-1/2% edited to conform to forum rules Tax on top of it.Maple Leaves are not subject to G.S.T.,as they are pure gold. Aidan.
XpipedreamR,that is a restrike of the Mexican 1945 50 Pesos,which is very difficult or impossible to distinguish from the original striking. The Austrian 1 & 4 Ducat pieces of 1915 are restrikes anyway. Aidan.
The Mexico City mint sold silver "onzas" (silver ounces) in 1949 as bullion coins. These were new designs, not restrikes of older coins. http://home.earthlink.net/~brianrxm/stuff/mexc_bullc.htm
I think Clinker was meaning that the Krugerrand was the first proper gold bullion medal-coin,as opposed to a restrike of an old gold coin or a silver bullion medal-coin. Aidan.
LOL !! Not quite :smile But you do have a point gx, there have been bullion coins struck for centuries. It's just that people looked at them a bit diiferently and called them trade coins instead of bullion coins.
Doug,those trade coins that you are referring to were actually intended for use as money.The Krugerrand isn't.It would be pretty strange going into a shop in South Africa & presenting a Krugerrand as a form of payment. Aidan.
Yes Aidan they were intended for use as money. However, the distinction is that they were not intended to be used as money in the country of their manufacture, they were soley inteneded to be used to pay for trade goods in other nations. They were not intended to circulate as money - that's the distinction and it is also the similarity to the more modern bullion coinage. Now some may say that modern bullion coins are not used as money. I will say horsepuckey, they are. I personally do it myself. No I do not walk into a store and spend them at face value, but I have and do spend them just like the older trade coins were spent to pay for goods received. Granted, I am the exception as few would ever do that. But I do, and if I can do it so can others. And that makes them money.
I agree with Doug. I don't really think that South Africa is the pioneer of making bullion coins. In fact, I believe the Dutch ducat was minted ever since 1600s - DO check out Doug's collection. It's a shocker! Doug if you don't mind: http://www.omnicoin.com/user_view.aspx?id=GDJMSP There are other countries in Europe that started this bullion coin trend. I only collect Russian coins so that is what I only know. In the early 1700s, Peter I realized the need to reform Russia and started a bullion coin program, which we now know as the Chervonets. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chervonets I'm sure the other European countries at that time have come up of some kind of bullion coins.
All the coins you've mentioned including the Ducat and Chevronet circulated as legal tender within the country in which they were produced for. The Kruggerrand was made only to sell at a premium to gold collectors. It took a while for it to be available in the U.S.A. during Apartheid. Clinker
