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1 oz Silver Krugerrand
Gold, Silver and Platinum.
1 oz Silver Krugerrand coins are one of the most sought-after silver investment coins on the market today. The U.S., as well as global investors quickly bought all of the first-year strikes marking the Rand Mints 50th anniversary. Essentially, 1 million coins or 22 million dollars worth of bullion moved nearly instantaneously upon release in 2017.
South Africa’s world-renowned Rand Gold Refinery (also known as the South African Mint) has produced prized gold bullion coins for decades. These Gold coins had been a favorite in the black market gold trade long before the U.S. government lifted the ban on private gold bullion ownership in 1974. 1/10th oz, 1/4th oz, ½ oz, and 1 oz gold Krugerrands (22-karat) were also banned in the ’70s and ’80s in many western countries beyond the U.S., due to sanctions stemming from institutionalized systemic racial segregation due to the South African Apartheid policy. The gold variant of the Krugerrand coin was the most popular gold coin on the planet with mintage exceeding 60 million ounces. With gold reaching historic all-time highs of $2,000 an ounce, that’s a whopping 120 billion dollars worth of the precious metal.
Rand Refinery
- About the South African Mint
It wasn’t until 50 years after the Rand Mint struck its first gold Krugerrand coin that they began to produce the silver variant which, as evident in the previous paragraphs, were received with a very warm welcome to silver stackers, silver investors and numismatists alike. In terms of numismatics, the collectability of the first issue released in 2017 (if you could get your hands on one) caused the price per coin to nearly double in the weeks following the first imports. Fun fact, we sent out a notably large percentage of these coins in 2017 and have continued to send out high volumes of gold and silver Krugerrands in both our Gold Crate and Silver Crate subscription crates.
The 1 oz Silver Krugerrand coin comes imported on pallets of 10,000 ounces worth of coins each pallet. They are divided into branded gray plastic ‘monster boxes’ which have 500 coins divided into branded coin tubes. The monster box has 20 tubes containing 25 coins each. These coins are available in brilliant uncirculated (BU) condition, but the mint has also produced 15,000 special high grade “proof” silver coins as well as their gold and platinum counterparts.
The 1 oz Silver Krugerrand is comprised of .999 fine silver and weighs 1 troy ounce or 31.1 grams each. The 1 oz variant is 38.7 mm in diameter with a thickness of 2.84 mm. The coin is reeded meaning the edges have stippling which is an old security feature found on nearly all coins to prevent thieves from shaving off small amounts of the precious contents from the edges. The Krugerrands also carry a government back monetary value “Rand” which is the current currency in use in South Africa (annotated as R1 on the silver variant coin), however, is not annotated anywhere on the gold coin itself. This is a rare but well-thought-out feature as most government-issued bullion coins carry a monetary value stamped unto the coin, however, the monetary value is always well below market price and obviously can’t fluctuate with market spot price changes.
Photo taken by Investor Crate staff at our Dallas distribution center during QI checks circa 2020.
On both the gold, silver, and platinum Krugerrands obverse (heads) side of the coin displays the likeliness of a now controversial figure Paul Kruger ‘Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger’, a South African president whom fought in the Boer War but more relevantly took part in South Africa’s version of the gold rush, the “Witwatersrand Gold Rush.” This led to the founding of Johannesburg also known as the “City of Gold.” Above the portrait of President Kruger are the words ‘SUID-AFRIKA,’ and ‘SOUTH AFRICA’ or South Africa in both Afrikaans and English languages.
On the reverse (tails) side of the coin shows a portrait of a Springbok Antelope which is the official South African National animal. Above the Antelope the word “KRUGERRAND” is displayed. On the side of and below the Antelope are the mintage year, metal type, purity, and government-backed face value. The silver variant reads “FYNSILWER 1 OZ FINE SILVER R1.” Also, if you look closely above R1 you can find the initials “CLS” for Coert Lourens Steynberg, a famous sculptor who also designed the original gold variant of the Krugerrand but is most famous for sculpting the statue of Paul Kruger which is on display at Kruger National Park.
The 15,000 proof strike versions of 2017 1 oz Silver Krugerrand also had a small 50th-anniversary proof mark on the reverse above the Antelopes back that had a large number 50 surrounded by the words “1967-2017 YEAR ANNIVERSARY.”
A newly released 2020 2 oz Silver Krugerrand has also been released which has been exceedingly difficult to source but if these continue into future mintage runs, these will be an exciting thing to add to the portfolio.
This article is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Under no circumstances should you make any investment decisions without first consulting with a certified financial advisor.
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