The iconic South African Krugerrand was first manufactured jointly by the South African Mint and Rand Refinery on 3 July 1967. The country was perfectly poised to launch an investment product that made the precious metal mined within its borders accessible to everyone, as it produced three quarters of the world’s gold at the time.
However the Krugerrand’s success story really began when US President Richard Nixon announced the cancellation of the dollar’s convertibility into gold in the early 1970s, initiating gold’s sudden attractiveness to private individuals as an investment and as protection against inflation. The Krugerrand was considered to be a stable and well-tradeable coin due to its alloy with copper, and quickly became the globally recognised bullion coin it is today. The Kruggerand ranks as the world’s most traded gold bullion coin and has come to be one of the world’s favourites. It is legal tender in its home country and is valued solely according to the current price of gold (it contains the exact amount of gold stated on its face). To make it more marketable, the distinctive springbok-motif on its reverse has a 1/12 copper content added to it, making it particularly resistant to scratches or other forms of damage.
Sourced partly from official Kruggerrand
