1967 Gold South African Krugerrand 1 Ounce First Year

A South African Krugerrand from 1967: the first year that this influencial gold bullion coin was issued.

What is a Gold Krugerrand?

The name Krugerrand combines the official currency of South Africa - the Rand - with the name of influential Boer statesman, Paul Kruger.

A portrait of the late nineteenth century President of South Africa has appeared on the obverse of the Krugerrand since its first issue. This design, modelled by Otto Schultz during Kruger’s lifetime, is paired with an image of the national animal of South Africa, the springbok, rendered by Coert Steynberg.

These gold coins were introduced in 1967, taking advantage of South African gold production and a relaxing of laws around private gold ownership.

Success and Influence

The Krugerrand has been an enormous success for the Rand Refinery who process the gold for these coins and the South African Mint who strike all Krugerrands. By 1980 the Krugerrand accounted for more than 90% of the global gold coin market.

The success of this bullion coin inspired other countries to strike gold investment coins like the Canadian Maple Leaf (introduced 1979), the American gold Eagle (1986) and the British Britannia (1987). These alternatives gained popularity as the Kruggerand was the subject of anti-apartheid sanctions in many western countries through the 1970s and 80s. Most restrictions were lifted after 1991. Today, the Krugerrand reports the largest sales by volume of any bullion coin by a significant margin.

One Troy Ounce of Fine Gold

As well as the ‘pronking’ springbok, the reverse of Krugerrands - this 1967 example included - also displays the composition of the coin with the legend: ‘FYNGOUD 1 OZ FINE GOLD’.

Krugerrands are composed of 33.93 grams of 22 carat gold. That's a fineness of 916.7 grams (the same as the American Eagle) which means that Krugerrands contain exactly 1 troy ounce of pure gold. The remaining weight is copper which adds durability.

To celebrate 50 years of the Krugerrand the 1967 design was restruck in 2017. This is not one of those collectors restrikes: you can tell by the absence of a mintmark to the reverse. This gold Krugerrand is one of some 40,000 minted in this first year of production making it an intriguing piece of numismatic history.

The Britannia Coin Company also stocks a range mixed-year bullion Krugerrands for investors, including:

• Our best value one ounce gold Krugerrands,
• Preowned half ounce gold Krugerrands, and
• Tenth ounce gold Krugerrands