In 1967, the South African government first issued the gold coin that would go on to become the most traded gold coin in the world: the South African Krugerrand. It was the first of its type anywhere in the world; minted from one troy ounce of fine gold.
To celebrate the 50th annual release of the world-famous gold Krugerrand, the Rand Refinery have expanded their repertoire and introduced the very first silver bullion Krugerrand, minted from one troy ounce of fine silver. Here’s everything you need to know about the updates.
A brief history of the South African Krugerrand
Though other coins like the American Gold Eagle, the Canadian Maple Leaf and the British Britannia have followed in its footsteps, none have quite reached the popularity of the original South African Gold Krugerrand at any point over its 50 year life cycle.
First launched in 1967, the South African government sought to encourage the use of private gold ownership. As one of the world’s largest single manufacturers of gold, it comes as little surprise that South Africa led the trend of one ounce fine gold coin collecting, or even that its version went on to remain the most popular.
The name for the coin was taken from the name of the country’s fifth president, Paul Kruger, together with the name of South Africa’s currency: the Rand.
After an initial flurry of interest in the Krugerrand, it suffered some setbacks in the 70s and 80s as Western Democracies banned imported goods from South Africa in protest of their controversial apartheid policies. Despite this, it remained the world’s most widely traded gold coin.
The 2018 silver Krugerrand.jpg)
Like the original gold version, the new silver coin features one troy ounce of fine silver. The design is also identical to the gold coin, featuring the image of Paul Kruger on one side and an antelope on the other.
The inscribed images are accompanied by the word ‘Krugerrand’, and ‘fine silver’ on one side, with the latter being written in both English and Afrikaans, the main two languages of South Africa. The words ‘South Africa’ are inscribed on the other side, also in both languages.
The interesting thing about the silver variant is that it will carry an actual face value denomination of 1 rand, unlike the original gold version.
Historical value
As the first silver Krugerrand of its kind, this coin is likely to earn pride of place in plenty of coin collections around the world. That means, as well as being valuable for the worth of its precious metal content, it’ll likely come to have a historical and commemorative value in a few years’ time.
The Rand Refinery plan to issue just 500,000 of these coins. These aren’t a ‘limited edition’ run, and there’s every chance the refinery will choose to continue minting the new silver Krugerrand from 2019. There are however, a limited number of 2018 coins (which will likely become more valuable than later potential variants) – so make sure you get yours soon.
Whether you’re an investor looking to simply harness the potential value of investment silver, or an avid coin collector, there are plenty of tangible benefits to owning this and other silver coins.
Buy your 2018 silver Krugerrands here
The silver Krugerrand is set to be released in the next few weeks, and there’s certainly a lot of buzz happening around the market as it awaits their delivery.
If you’re looking to get your hands on one of these coins before they all run out – then you’ve certainly come to the right place, because it’s currently available to pre-order on our website.
The market price changes depending on the live price of silver – but once you’ve pre-ordered your version, we’ll lock in the price at the time of buying. That means if the price changes between now and delivery date, you’ll still only pay the originally quoted price.
Have a look over our entire range of Krugerrands right here, or check out other silver coins in our collection.
This blog represents one person’s opinion only. Customers should conduct their own research and take advice before making an investment. We do not offer investment advice.
