One oz Gold Krugerrands Have an Interesting History
The Chamber of Mines of South Africa was formed in 1889 to represent mining employers and make decisions for the gold interests of South Africa. They were the planners behind the 1 Ounce Krugerrand, however the history of the Gold Krugerrand goes further back- well beyond it’s first mintage in July of 1967.
In 1884, gold was found in the “ridge of white waters” (in Afrikaans Witwatersrand), South Africa. General Joubert remarked that the gold find will “cause our land to be soaked in blood.” In this blood and conflict begins the Gold Krugerrand history. Paul Kruger was the President of the Transvaal at this time, and he was very concerned with the influx of gold hungry foreigners who flocked to the sixty mile range of east/west running hills of Witwatersrand. Johannesburg sprang up first as a shanty town, and then eventually became a thriving city. As more foreign miners arrived- they began to want a say on how things were done- for example tax rates and where the taxes were spent. The Boers were concerned about losing their independence – rightly so, as the British empire was eyeing the rich gold find. The seeds of conflict were sown.
The spark that set off the powder keg of the second Boer war came in 1899, when the British demanded equal rights for all the foreign miners. Paul Kruger, concerned about keeping the Transvaal independent, fired back an ultimatum of his own. All British to be out within forty-eight hours. Needless to say neither side backed down, and a war raged for three years. The British eventually prevailed in 1902, and the Transvaal was absorbed- however Boers managed to salvage some conditions so it was not a total rout.
Politics settled, the march of the Gold Krugerrand carried on. A Krugerrand would be nothing without that heart of precious metal- refined gold bullion. In 1920 the Transvaal Chamber of Mines needed a consolidated refinery to handle all the gold in South Africa. The Rand Refinery was created to meet this need, and has been in continuous operation every since.
The 1 Ounce Krugerrand takes its name from a combination of Paul Kruger’s surname, and the Rand, which is the currency of South Africa (the Rand was taken from Witwatersrand). The obverse of the 1 oz Krugerrand has a portrait of Paul Kruger, designed by Otto Schultz. Coert Steynberg designed the reverse, which is a Springbok antelope, a national symbol of South Africa.
The Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 coupled with the Executive Order 6102 signed by FDR effectively made it illegal for US citizens to own gold bullion at the time the Gold Krugerrand came into being (1967). The South African government wanted to be able to sell gold to US and world investors- so they did two very clever things. One, they made it legal tender, which allowed US investors to purchase it as a foreign coin. Second, rather than list a denomination on the coin- they listed the actual gold content in the coin. So a 1 Ounce Krugerrand contains exactly that, one full ounce of gold bullion. Krugerrands are not pure gold, for every 11 parts gold there is one part copper to provide strength. This copper content makes them heavier than their one ounce label. South Africa still had another political hurdle to overcome before widespread trade in the Krugerrand could occur for US citizens- apartheid. Until political reform ended the practice in the mid nineties, the Krugerrand was illegal to import. In spite of this prohibition, and with free trade now, the Gold Krugerrand has become the most popular bullion coin in history, with 46 million ounces in circulation. The One oz Krugerrand history is a tale of adventure, war, and progress.
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