The History and Price of Krugerrand Gold Coins

The South African gold Krugerrand was named after Paul Kruger the President of Transvaal (the old South Africa) from 1882 until 1900. His portrait remains on the face of all gold Krugerrand coins today. On the back is a springbok, a type of gazelle and a national symbol of South Africa.

First introduced in 1967, the Krugerrand was intended to facilitate the private ownership of gold. The weight of gold contained in the coin are written on it and the quality and country are stamped in both English and Afrikaans.

Each gold Krugerrand contains 1 troy ounce of gold, although the coin is slightly heavier than this as it is 22 Karat gold (pure gold is 24K). The remainder of the weight is copper, which has been added to the pure gold to make it stronger and more wear-resistant.

The Krugerrand was an immediate success with collectors and investors buying gold coins and in its first year 40,000 standard and 10,000 proof coins were struck. It is still the most popular gold coin for investment in the world today.

In the late 19th century, the discovery of gold in an area of South Africa, led to a gold rush and ultimately to the Boer war. At the end of which in 1902 the Transvaal as South Africa was then known reverted back to being part of the British Empire.

The Rand Refinery, where all the gold used for Krugerrand coins starts its journey, began in the early 20th century.  It is now the largest gold refinery in the world, producing not only the gold blanks for Krugerrands, but also gold bullion bars and supplying jewelers.

At a time when Americans were prevented from buying gold bullion, they were still legally able to own foreign coins. As Krugerrands are technically currency and also conveniently have their gold weight stamped on them, they were a means for American citizens to own gold legally. However, trade sanctions imposed against South Africa because of the Apartheid regime meant it was illegal to import Krugerrands until the 1990s.

Now anyone can buy and sell Krugerrand gold coins freely.

But, of course, the rising price of gold still made the ownership of full 1 ounce gold Krugerrands prohibitively expensive for many. So the South African mint introduced a 1/2 oz, a 1/4 oz and a 1/10th oz coin.

All gold coins are popular with investors and collectors alike.  Their appeal lies in their increasing value and the fact that they are easily bought and sold worldwide.  Following on from the success of the Krugerrand, Canada minted their first gold Maple Leaf coins in 1979 and America its American Eagle in 1986.

Where can I go to sell my gold?  The easy answer is you don’t have to go anywhere!  There are so many companies around these days where you can just visit their website or give them a call and they will be happy to send you a postage paid gold bag where you can just pop any unwanted gold items in and send it back to them.  Most of these companies will pay you within a day or two and some even pay in cash.

You can also sell gold at jewellers’ shops or pawn shops but if you are going to do this make sure you shop around to get the best deal and check out the scrap values of gold online first.

The value of your gold depends on its carat.  Most gold jewellery in the UK is 9 carat.  If you want to check for yourself you will need a magnifying glass or a jeweller’s loup (eyeglass) to see the tiny hallmarks stamped on the piece of jewellery.  9 carat will be marked .375 or 375, older pieces may be marked 9ct and foreign pieces may be marked 9k.

Better quality jewellery and rings containing good diamonds or other gemstones, may well be 18 carat gold.  This will be marked .750 or 750 and older pieces may be marked 18ct.

Most of the jewellery found in the UK is either 9 carat or 18 carat gold.  Be on the look out for 15 carat jewellery as this can often be antique.  Much Victorian and Edwardian jewellery is marked 15ct and older pieces may well be more valuable than modern gold jewellery.

If you have gold items that are foreign, particularly American, you will probably find that they are stamped 10k or 14k as 10 carat and 14 carat gold are the most usual types of gold to be found there.

If you want to sell your gold for scrap, be aware that 18 carat gold is worth twice as much as 9 carat.  As I write this in October 2009, 9 carat gold is worth over £7 a gramme for scrap and 18 carat over £14 a gramme.

Selling gold is usually something that you will do once or twice to raise some cash or just get rid of some broken or unwanted pieces.  But if you do intend to start buying and selling gold as a hobby or an investment, you would be wise to invest in a hallmarks book and learn at least the basics of British hallmarks, so that you can buy with more confidence.

You can often pick up pieces of good used, vintage or even antique gold jewellery and sometimes gold coins at antique fairs, auctions and online.  It is even worth a look at your local car boot sale and flea market as it has been known for people to pick up very valuable pieces of gold jewellery for a song at these places.  So it is probably not a good idea to try and sell your gold at boot sales or flea markets as people shopping there are looking for bargains and may not be prepared to pay a good price for your gold.

When selling your gold, try popping in to your local auction house on a day when they are not having a sale.  The auctioneer will often take a look at your gold for you and give you an idea to its value as he will be interested in selling it for you.  It is important to remember that if you do buy or sell gold jewellery, trinkets or gold coins at an auction you will pay commission on the sale or purchase and also VAT on top.

This should have given you some ideas of where to sell gold.