Johannesburg, South Africa, 30 June 2017: 50 years ago, on 3 July 1967, the first Krugerrand, the famous South African investment coin, was manufactured jointly by the South African Mint and Rand Refinery, thus beginning a unique and very special global success story. The basic premise of the investment coin was to provide private investors with access to gold as an investment product, thus making the precious metal mined in South Africa accessible to everyone.
As a result, the Kruggerand ranks as the world’s most traded gold bullion coin and has come to be one of the world’s favourite investment coins. It is legal tender in South Africa and is valued solely according to the current price of gold. To make it more marketable, the South African coin with its distinctive springbok-motive on its reverse has a 1/12 copper content, making it particularly resistant to scratches or other forms of damage. The Krugerrand contains the exact amount of gold stated on its face value, and the copper is added to the gold.
Richard Collocott, Executive Head Marketing at Rand Refinery, states: „At the beginning, the Krugerrand was only issued in the weight value of one ounce. This soon changed following a sharp increase in demand. Today, these investment coins are also available in fine gold weight values of 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce and 1/10 ounce, thus we are offering investors a greater variety of investment opportunities. The huge interest in this coin continues to this day. Since it was first introduced 50 years ago, more than 52 million ounces of the Krugerrand have been sold around the world. In 2016, the Krugerrand was the world“s most popular gold bullion coin.“
Tumi Tsehlo, Managing Director of South African Mint, adds: „50 years ago, no one could ever have envisaged that the Krugerrand would be such a huge worldwide success. To continue this success, we consider it is very important to uphold tradition by retaining the original design and thus its high degree of recognition. However, this does not mean that we turn a blind eye to current developments. These developments include, for example, an increasing relevance of precious metals other than gold in the investment sector.“
That is why, on the 50th anniversary of the Krugerrand, the South African Mint also issued limited edition, collectible versions of the coin in silver and platinum, for the first time. „The limited edition platinum Krugerrand is available in a weight of one ounce, and will be issued in 2017 only,“ Tsehlo explains. On the occasion of such a significant birthday, the range of limited edition gold Krugerrands also features limited editions of 5 ounce, 1/20 ounce, 1/50 ounce coins and an impressive 50 ounce coin as the highlight of the range.
Rand Refinery and the South African Mint produce the bullion Krugerrand in South Africa. Rand Refinery has refined nearly 50,000 tons of gold, around one third of the gold ever produced worldwide. The Rand Refinery was founded in 1920 by the Chamber of Mines in Germiston, South Africa to process raw gold mined around Johannesburg, marketing it around the world. The firm now processes approximately all gold mined in South Africa and a substantial share of gold mined in the rest of Africa. In addition to the world-famous Krugerrand gold coin, the company sells gold ingots ranging from one gramme to one kilogramme in weight. In Europe, the best-known ingots are the „elephant ingots“, bars of fine gold with an elephant motif on the back. The Rand Refinery has been admitted to the London Bullion Market Association, and is also listed for good delivery on the New York Commodities Exchange (COMEX), the Tokyo Commodities Exchange (TOCOM) and the Dubai Good Delivery Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), amongst others.
Company-Contact
Rand Refinery
Richard Collocott
Refinery Road 1
1400 Germiston
Phone: + 27 (0)11 418 9000
Fax: + 27 (0)11 418 9231
E-Mail: gold@gold.co.za
Url: http://www.randrefinery.com
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Jörn Gleisner
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Phone: +49 (0) 6172/ 27159 – 0
Fax: +49 (0) 6172/ 27159 – 69
E-Mail: j.gleisner@financial-relations.de
Url: http://www.financial-relations.de
