What Are Krugerrands?
Krugerrands are gold bullion coins minted in South Africa. Typically, a bullion coin is a coin struck from a precious metal, such as gold or silver, which is intended to be kept as an investment. Bullion coins can also act as a store of value, as they are not circulated in the way that ordinary money is. Rather, these types of assets, certain commodities and real estate, can be relied upon to retain a more consistent value compared to fluctuations experienced by different currencies. The Krugerrand differs from most other bullion coins because when it was initially minted in 1967, it was meant to be used as currency. As a result, it was made up of a more durable-than-normal gold alloy that resisted wear. A Krugerrand has a gold fineness measuring 0.9167. Fineness measures the purity of precious metals as a unit of 1,000, with a measure of 1,000 meaning that a metal is 100% pure. In other words, a gold coin with a fineness measuring 0.9167 would be comprised of 91.67% pure gold.
