Guide to Investing in Gold Coins
- Investing in Gold Krugerrand Coins iStock / Getty Images PlusThe gold Krugerrand is a gold coin minted by the government of South Africa. Production began in 1967, making it the first available gold coin in an era when bullion ownership had been effectively outlawed in the United States for decades with the exceptions of coins that had numismatic value. In the nation of South Africa, the gold Krugerrand is legal tender but, like all bullion coins, the value of the underlying metal far exceeds the face value if used as currency, so this is largely symbolic.
- Canadian Maple Leaf Gold Bullion Coins – Introduced to the world markets in 1979, Canadian gold maple leaf coins are guaranteed in purity by the Canadian Government and serve as the official gold bullion coin of the nation. Canadian gold maple leaf coins were introduced as a result of the efforts of a man named Walter Ott, who wanted to provide a gold bullion coin alternative to the South African Krugerrand, which was relatively scarce as civilized countries had enacted boycotts against the apartheid policies of the time.
1 oz Australian Gold Kangaroos – The Australian Gold Kangaroo series of bullion coins was introduced in 1987 by Gold Corp., an entity entirely owned by the Western Australian Government. Issued as Australian legal tender, the Gold Kangaroo is a favorite item among collectors and investors worldwide.
The obverse of the Australian Gold Kangaroo bears a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. However, the reverse has undergone changes since the coin’s release. At first, the reverse of these coins depicted an Australian Gold nugget. In 1989, the design changed and instead featured a more widely recognized symbol of Australia: the kangaroo. An iconic representation of the fascinating wildlife inhabiting Australia, the Australian kangaroo brings the Gold Kangaroo bullion coin series to life. The Australian Kangaroos vary in design and are meticulously made. Struck from .9999-fine Gold, the Gold Australian Kangaroo is among a few major pure Gold bullion coins that change their reverse design annually. Many of the Gold Kangaroos come individually packaged.
The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf (GML) is a gold bullion coin that is issued annually by the Government of Canada. It is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint.
The Gold Maple Leaf is legal tender with a face value of 50 Canadian dollars. The market value of the metal varies, depending on the spot price of gold. Having a .9999 millesimal fineness (24 carats), in some cases .99999, the coin is among the purest official bullion coins worldwide. The standard version has a weight of minimum 1 troy ounce (31.10 grammes). Other sizes and denominations include 1 gram, 1⁄25 oz. ($0.50), 1⁄20 oz. ($1), 1⁄10 oz. ($5), 1⁄4 oz. ($10), and 1⁄2 oz. ($20).
The Gold Maple Leaf’s obverse and reverse display, respectively, the profile of Queen Elizabeth II of Canada and the Canadian Maple Leaf. In 2013 and 2015 new security features were introduced. In 2013, a laser-micro-engraved textured maple leaf was added on a small area of the reverse (Maple Leaf) side of the coin. In the centre of this mark is the numeral denoting the coin’s year of issue, which is only visible under magnification. In 2015, the radial lines on the coin’s background on both sides of the coin were added.
On 3 May 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a Gold Maple Leaf coin with a nominal face value of $1 million and a metal value of over $3.5 million.[2][3] It measures 50 cm in diameter by 3 cm thick and has a mass of 100 kg, with a purity of 99.999%. On 26 March 2017, one of the five pieces was stolen from the Bode Museum;[4] it has not been found as of 27 March 2018.[5]
The half sovereign is an English and British gold coin with a face value half that of a sovereign: equivalent to half a pound sterling, ten shillings, or 120 old pence. Since the end of the gold standard, it has been issued only in limited quantities as a commemorative coinwith a sale price and resale value far in excess of its face value. The main reason for this is because they are used, along with other coins of this type as bullion coins.
Common date half sovereigns tend to be worth slightly more than melt value (around £130 as of 2017).
The half sovereign was first introduced in 1544 under Henry VIII. After 1604, the issue of half sovereigns, along with gold sovereigns, was discontinued until 1817, following a major revision of British coinage. Production continued until 1926 and, apart from special issues for coronation years, was not restarted until 1980. It was also used extensively in Australia, until 1933.
Modern half sovereigns, from 1817 onwards, have a diameter of 19.30 mm, a thickness of ~0.99 mm, a weight of 3.99 g, are made of 22 carat (91⅔%) crown gold alloy, and contain 0.1176 troy ounces (3.6575 g) of gold. The reverse side, featuring St. George slaying a dragon was designed by Benedetto Pistrucci, whose initials appear to the right of the date.
The Krugerrand (/ˈkruːɡərænd, -rɑːnd/;[1] Afrikaans: [ˈkryχərˌrant]) is a South African coin, first minted in 1967 to help market South African gold and produced by the South African Mint. By 1980, the Krugerrand accounted for 90% of the global gold coin market. The name is a compound of Paul Kruger, the former South African president depicted on the obverse, and rand, the South African unit of currency. During the 1970s and 1980s, some western countries forbade import of the Krugerrand because of its association with the apartheid government of South Africa, most notably the United States, which was the coin’s largest market in 1985.[2]
Production levels of Krugerrands have significantly varied during the last 50 years. From 1967 to 1969, around 40,000 coins were minted each year. In 1970, the number rose to over 200,000 coins. More than one million coins were produced in 1974, and in 1978 a total of six million were produced. The production dropped to 23,277 coins in 1998 but have increased again, although not reaching previous levels.
