Gold Krugerrand
The krugerrand is a South African gold bullion coin that was first
produced in 1967 and is a legal tender gold coin,
meaning that it can be used as currency to pay for goods or services.
The first gold coin to contain precisely one ounce of fine gold, the gold Krugerrand was the original bullion coin to be tenderable at the market value of its face gold content and was intended from the moment of creation to enable ownership of gold amongst private individuals. Bestowing legal tender status upon the gold Krugerrand opened up ownership to citizens of the United States which at that time prohibited private ownership of bullion but allowed ownership of foreign coins.
Because the value of gold can fluctuate quite markedly the krugerrand
was not issued with a face value, rather its purchasing power as a
legal tender coin is based on the market value of gold at any given
time. Because gold prices change constantly,
krugerrand prices change constantly also.
This is to address the problem that otherwise the coin could
sometimes have a face value in excess of its gold content, and other
times it may have a value worth far less than its gold content value.
The Krugerrand weighs 33.93 grams and is made of 22 ct gold, which is
91.67% pure. Although the krugerrand contains 1 ounce of gold, it
actually weighs more than one ounce.
This is because of the addition of other metals to make the gold
alloy harder, and the coin more durable.