Have you had the chance to look at or learn about other bullion coins than our very own American Eagles? Mints across the world release Gold, Silver and Platinumbullion coins every year. In this post we are looking at the 2017 Silver and Gold Krugerrands released by the South African mint.

The 1 oz 2017 Silver Krugerrand is the first ever krugerrand releasedin Silver to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Gold Krugerrand. The Gold Krugerrand was released first in 1967 and became an iconic Gold bullion coin in the last 5 decades. The Canadian Maple Leaf, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Chinese Gold Panda and the Australian Gold nugget bullion coins followed much later. The South African mint has also released a 50th Anniversary special 1 oz Platinum Krugerrand with the same design and the flagship Gold Krugerrand in different sizes and versions.

The History and design

The obverse shows the profile of the Boer statesman and the late 19th century President of South Africa, Paul Kruger. The name krugerrand is actually an amalgam of the word Kruger for Paul Kruger and Rand, the monetary unit of South Africa.

Paul Kruger, though not an educated man, rose from being a simple farmer to being the commandant-general of the South African republic, called Transvaal. He negotiated successfully with the British during the Boer war which helped Transvaal later to become an independent state under the British. He thenbecame the Vice Presidentand later President of South Africa in 1882. He is best known for his discussions with the British to revise the Pretoria convention thatended the First Anglo Boer war. He acquired lot of allies in Europe for South Africa during his Presidency.

The Gold krugerrand design was adopted from the 1892 South African Gold Pond coin created by Otto Schulz from the Berlin Mint under contract from the South African Mint. The design portrays a left-facing President Paul Kruger with a lengthy beard and side-burns with no mustache. The Silver and Gold Krugerrands released this year are an improved version of the original Gold Krugerrand with sharper details. The words 'SUID AFRIKA' and 'SOUTH AFRICA' are placed around the portrait.

The reverse shows the 'Springbok', a medium sized antelope found in southern and south-western Africa. The Springbok performs multiple leaps in the air with a stiff legged posture. The Krugerrand coin captures this beautifully with a fully grown male springbok leaping with all feet in the air. The word 'KRUGERRAND' is engraved atop the springbok. Right below the design, the inscription FYNSILWER 1 OZ FINE SILVER R1 shows the face value and the precious metal content of the coin. The coin has a reeded edge. The number 50 in the reverse represents the 50th anniversary of the coin design.

References

1.http://www.krugerpark.co.za/Krugerpark_History-travel/paul-kruger-history.html

2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krugerrand

This entry was posted in World Coins, Commemorative coins and tagged 2017 silver krugerrand, 2017 gold krugerrand on May 17, 2017 by lavanya kannan