Krugerrand

A Krugerrand is a South African gold coin, first minted in 1967 in order to help market South African gold. The coins have legal tender status in South Africa but are not actually intended to be used as currency; thus it is regarded as a medal-coin.

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The Krugerrand gets its name from the fact that the obverse features the face of Paul Kruger, a prominent Boer resistance leader against the British, and eventually the fifth and last president of the old South African Republic, holding that office for four terms. The reverse depicts a springbok antelope, one of the national symbols of South Africa that was designed by Coert Steynberg and used on the reverse of the earlier five shilling South African coinage for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. The name "South Africa" and the gold content are inscribed in both Afrikaans and English.

The word "Krugerrand" is a registered trade mark owned by Rand Refinery Limited, a South African corporation of Germiston, South Africa.

The success of the Krugerrand led to many other gold-producing nations minting their own bullion coins, including the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf in 1979, the Australian Nugget in 1981, the British Britannia coin in 1987 and the American Gold Eagle in 1986.