History of The African Krugerrad Gold Coin

The South African Krugerrand, has lately lost popularity to the Canadian Maple leaf, although you can still buy gold Krugerrand from almost any online store. Originally introduced in 1967 it is often considered to be the first gold bullion coin to gain international respect and usage in modern times. Even though the Krugerrand gold coin has lost its popularity, most people equate gold ownership to owning Krugerrand. Just a few decades ago you could only buy gold Krugerrad gold coins, however over the years this has changed, specially when the Canadian Maple Leaf which was introduced in 1973. People could still buy gold Krugerrand but it lost popularity to the Canadian Maple leaf, the popularity of the gold Krugerrand declined even further in 1984 when economic sanctions were imposed on South Africa.  The South African Krugerrand lost a huge chunk of its market share, and has yet to recover from it since.

The coin features and is named after the famous four time South African president Paul Kruger, who is also known in South Africa as “Uncle Paul”. If you flip the coin over there is an image of a Springbok engraved on the coin, this is a native African inhabitant which can run at speeds of 80 Km/hr. incidentally the Springbok is also the icon for the South Africa’s rugby team.   

The krugerrand was a convenient way for people to buy gold since its purity and value was guaranteed by the government of South Africa. The Krugerrand remained the predominant way for people to buy gold and sell gold bullions until the mid seventies.

Even today for many people who want to buy gold at a low price the Krugerrand makes an excellent choice, since it is the least expensive gold bullion on the market today. Although you might have a problem reselling the Krugerrand at a reasonable price, however for many people who buy gold to them gold is just gold, and there is no reason why they should pay more.

Buy Gold Coins in the Form of Krugerrands

The Krugerrand is a coin that was manufactured by the South African government to promote gold ownership. Gold in South Africa is cheap considering the number of gold mines around Johannesburg, these gold coins served as a way for people to trade in gold, using pure gold that was also valid as legal tender. It was assumed by South Africa that people would buy gold, and stop investing in the US dollar, since it was unstable.   

Gold ownership was simplified by the Krugerrand since it provided people a means to buy gold weighing one troy ounce, that was universally acceptable, and was easy to buy and later sell. This gave people who were interested in investing in gold a good opportunity to buy gold in its purest and most acceptable form.

Once other countries saw how people were eager to buy gold as a means of securing their wealth, it was not long before countries such as the United States and Canada came out with their own gold bullion coins, that were guaranteed to be pure. Now people hand a much wider selection from which to choose to buy gold from, making gold bullion coins a solid investment.