The 1 Ounce Krugerrand history starts not on July 3rd, 1967 when it was first struck- not even in plotting and strategy meetings held by the Chamber of Mines of South Africa (established in 1889 as a voluntary private sector organization to represent the interests of mining employers) who were its architects.
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 started 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 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- but Boers managed to salvage some conditions so it was not a total rout.
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 made 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.
A shiny new 1 Ounce Gold Krugerrand is a product of its history. The obverse side has a portrait of Paul Kruger, painstakingly designed by Otto Shultz. Kruger also lends his name to the coin, along with Witwatersrand, which was shortened to “rand”; which also happens to be the national currency of South Africa. The finishing touch is the delicate Springbok antelope on the reverse- to symbolize South Africa.
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 plot for their fledgling One 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 place the weight of the gold bullion on the coin. This allowed a quick and simple 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 fascinating 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 but, 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 well loved bullion investment coin. The One oz Gold Krugerrand history leads from the rolling hills to the highest political offices, and beyond.