The Krugerrand

The Krugerrand  is a South African gold coin, first minted in 1967 to help market South African gold and produced by the South African Mint. By 1980 the Krugerrand accounted for 90% of the global gold coin market. The name itself is a compound of Kruger (the former South African president depicted on the obverse) and rand, the South African unit of currency. During the 1970s and 1980s some western countries forbade import of the Krugerrand because of its association with the apartheid regime of South Africa, notably the coin’s largest market of the United States in 1985.[2]

 Production levels of Krugerrands have significantly varied during the last 50 years. From 1967 to 1969, around 40,000 coins were minted each year. In 1970, the number rose to over 200,000 coins. More than one million coins were produced in 1974, and in 1978 a total of six million Krugerrands were produced. Following the end of apartheid, the production dropped to 23,277 coins in 1998 and since then levels have increased again, albeit not reaching pre-international sanction levels.

History

The Krugerrand was introduced in 1967 as a vehicle for private ownership of gold. It was minted in a copper-gold alloy more durable than pure gold. Economic sanctions against South Africa for its policy of apartheid made the Krugerrand an illegal import in many Western countries during the 1970s and 1980s. These sanctions ended when South Africa abandoned apartheid in 1991.[3][4][5]

By 1980 the Krugerrand accounted for 90% of the global gold coin market.[6] That year South Africa introduced three smaller coins with a half troy ounce, quarter ounce, and tenth ounce of gold.[7]

Over 50 million ounces of gold Krugerrand coins have been sold since production started in 1967.