Throughout history, almost every country will have made or still makes their own gold coinage. In the past a lot of these valuable gold coins were essentially used during every day lives as cash. At present these coins are more likely to be minted especially for collectors of coins or gold investors. Should you choose to make gold part of your portfolio and would also love a collection that is lovely to show-off or enjoy as a fascinating pastime; look no further than starting to collect gold coins.

You might like to construct your collection based on up to date coins or amass older coins or a mixture of both types. Gold coins are made in assorted values and weights, this means that you might collect even on a strict budget. Certain net websites or coin retailers will offer to choose a package of these coins originating from various countries and will then send this selection to you. The charge for these packages might be £500-£3,000. Within them, the quantity of gold coins you are sent will be dependent upon a number of factors as in: Today’s gold price; the weight and size of the gold coins; how rare they are and also their carat value.

Krugerrands are minted in accurate weights; for the full Krugerrand this is 33.9305g. Their fineness (gold content) is 0.917 which is a fraction over 22 carat.

Many places these days produce their own bullion gold coin to compete with the original gold bullion coin – the South African Krugerrand. Some countries also make special commemorative coins to record the milestone of a special incident or the incident itself. Commonly, these special commemorative coins can be bought as proof sets, and can be a limited edition, which means that only specified quantities are issued. This concept enhances the future scarcity appreciation and desirability of these commemorative coins.

One more great benefit to building a collection of these coins ought to be that in a large number of places this will be a “no tax” way for investment as, at this point, many countries don’t put tax on these coins whilst they could continue to be paid out as money. However in fact, anybody would need to be unhinged to hand over a single gold sovereign in order to buy some things costing one pound since they are worth over a hundred times that at today’s gold scrap value.

If you commence investing in Krugerrands you will need to pay more for coins in extra fine condition. In most cases, coins for sale are graded for quality and the value of your Krugerrands varies dependent on the grade of the coin. Your collection of gold coins will probably need to be graded for condition by an expert anytime you decide to sell them. It is possible to obtain uncirculated issues of just about any modern coins and although you will certainly pay out a little more for this quality of coin, they should be perfect and should be a useful purchase.

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.