By Ben Harmon
On July 3rd, 1967 the first 1 oz Krugerrand rolled through the presses in the South African Mint. This was not the beginning of the Gold Krugerrand, however- nor were the careful planning meetings of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa (who interestingly enough can trace its roots back to 1889) which lead to its creation.
Witwatersrand, South Africa or the "ridge of white waters" in Afrikaans, is truly where Gold Krugerrand history starts. These mineral rich hills run east to west near Johannesburg for over sixty miles. They produce many minerals including uranium- and in 1884 the first gold discovery was made. The president of the Transvaal at that time was Paul Kruger, who knew that the gold discovery would forever change the face of South Africa. As he predicted, the rich gold find brought in many foreign miners looking to make their fortune. As more and more foreigners entered, they eventually began to outnumber the Boers, and their protests for their rights lead to increasing levels of conflict. Underlying this concern for their rights, was the British desire to control gold rights.
The second Boer war started in 1899 with ultimatums from the British demanding equal rights for the uitlanders (foreigners), and Kruger's response for the British to be out of Transvaal in 48 hours. After three bloody years, the war ended in 1902 and Transvaal was absorbed into the British empire- with some concessions to the Boers.
Now that the drums of war were silent, the next milestone in the timeline of Krugerrand history was the creation of the of a centralized refinery. The Transvaal Chamber of Mines created the Rand Refinery in 1920 with the express goal to refine all the gold mined in Witwatersrand. To this day, the blank every South African Gold Krugerrand is stamped on comes from the Rand refinery.
Now to assemble the essential elements of a One Ounce Krugerrand. First on the reverse side of the coin, we have a Springbok antelope, designed by Coert Steynberg. The antelope symbolizes South Africa. Next the Krugerrand honors the 5th President of the South African Republic, Paul Kruger with a picture on the obverse. Finally, the name itself is derived by adding Kruger's name to the national currency- the Rand. And where did the Rand come from? Witwatersrand of course.
With Executive Order 6102 and the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, United States citizens were effectively barred from owning gold bullion. In 1967 the Chamber of Mines of South Africa had a clever plan for their fledgling 1 oz Gold Krugerrand. By declaring the coin legal tender of South Africa, it was classified as "foreign coin", and US citizens could buy it. They also had another trick up their sleeve, instead of putting a value on it- they put the weight of the gold bullion on the coin. This allowed a quick and easy method to trade gold bullion without the need to melt and assay its gold content. This also tied the value of the Krugerrand directly to the underlying gold value. It's interesting to note that Krugerrands are not 24 carat gold- they are alloyed with copper which gives them their dark golden color and adds strength. Rest assured however, that they do contain one full ounce of gold bullion. Until apartheid was abolished in the middle of the 1990s, it was still illegal to import Krugers in western countries. In spite of this the Kruger was still a commercial success. Forty-six million ounces later, it is remains the world's most popular bullion investment coin. The 1 oz Gold Krugerrand history leads from the rolling hills to the highest political offices, and beyond. - 23309
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Would you like to see today's current value of a krugerrand? Maybe it is time for you to own that piece of history, a 1 oz Krugerrand.
Story by http://retwt.me/ce6p
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Gold / OiL
