Krugerrand Serrations and Alloy Errors and Misinformation

[LawrenceChard]

1 minute ago, ady said:

Never seen CPM home page, but seen him speak on precious metals and just seems shady to me.

Shady! 😎

[LawrenceChard]

South African Mint (SAM) and GoldBarsWorldwide Publishing Incorrect Krugerrand Specification Information.

Yet another high profile source of misinformation about Krugerrands.

One would expect the South Africa Mint to get its information right, but clearly nobody there bothered to check.

This screenshot is take from the website of Gold Bars Worldwide goldbarsworldwide.com, (GBW) which cites its sources as Source: South African Reserve Bank, South African Mint Company (Pty) Ltd and Rand Refinery. As the screenshot above clearly shows the logo of South African Mint Company (Pty) Ltd, it seems highly likely that GBW have taken it from the South African Mint website, whihc in turn probably came from Rand Refineries.

In addition to stating that there were 180 serrations on the One Ounce Krugerrand, they also got it wrong for the half and quarter ounce sizes.

Also:

"* Standard fineness of 91.67 % is equal to 11/12 gold and 1/12 alloy. The alloy is copper."

This is yet another commonly believed piece of misinformation.

Most dates of Krugerrands contain some silver. Only the most recent dates, from about 2017 contain no silver.

Even saying "The alloy is copper." is logically impossible. An alloy is a misture of metals. Copper is not and cannot be an alloy. What GBW and SAM mean is that the balance of the alloy is copper. It gets very frustrating reading stuff written by pseudo experts who clearly do not know what they are talking about.

Other misinformation on this website includes:

"IMPORTANT FEATURES Worldʼs first ounce-denominated gold bullion coin The mass produced 1 oz gold bullion coin was launched in 1970, the fractional (1/2 oz, 1/4 oz and 1/10 oz) bullion coins in 1980".

The Krugerrands produced from 1967 to 1969 inclusive were certainly mass-produced, and GBW are perhaps inventing their own definition, as perhaps they were merely parroting something they had seen or read elsewhere. In any case, on their ANNUAL SALES STATISTICS table they show later, there is no mention of the first three years, and the table starts at 1970:

"KRUGERRAND GOLD BULLION COINS
Year Number of coins Total coins Total ounces
1 oz 1/2 oz 1/4 oz 1/10 oz
1970 211,018 - - - 211,018 211,018"

Yet More Fiction:

In July 1967, the first Krugerrands – containing exactly one troy ounce
of fine gold – were issued. However, these were proof and proof-like
coins, sold at high prices to coin collectors.

I also noticed:

"The tube for the 1 oz contains 10 coins."

Different size tubes exist, including 15 coin, and 25 coin tubes.

While GBW may have got some of its facts right, it would be difficult to have any confidence in their information, because so much of what they have written is purely and simply wrong.

😎

[LawrenceChard]

On 08/04/2022 at 09:56, Britannia47 said:

Tried to count the serrations but gave up! 

So here is a photo on a slightly different issue, re the alloy used in a 22ct gold Krugerrand. L.C. alluded that earlier Krugs. were more yellow than the all copper alloy shown on the proof. The 1974 bullion coin certainly seems to have some silver in the mix judging by its colour. The proof is part of the 30th anniv. set and the certificate says 8.3% copper. The S.A.M seems to be the only Mint that actually states the alloy used. However, I get the impression there may be some nasty impurities embedded in the copper after L.C. did an initial test? I have included a pic of the first Silver Krugerrand that "never existed"! 

The 1997 set came from Bob Ilsley from Dolphin Coins, but that's another story......!

 

 

On 08/04/2022 at 10:01, stefffana said:

Lovely coins!🤗

Can you please share your knowledge about " the first Silver Krugerrand that "never existed" "?

 

On 08/04/2022 at 10:06, Britannia47 said:

Just a little joke that L.C. would understand - nothing more than that!

 

On 08/04/2022 at 10:13, stefffana said:

Thank you. 😊

I've been confused, because I've seen with my eyes the same coin.

 

 

On 08/04/2022 at 11:25, goldsilverdash said:

If that article was written pre-2017, the informtion about the silver Krugerrand was correct at the time, no? The silver version did not exist until 2017, am I right?

 

I don't know the relevant dates, but many years ago, well before 2017, one or more ebay members were offering for sale "Silver Krugerrands". These were what Americans would call silver "rounds". They were not coins, not legal tender, almost certainly not made in South Africa, but had been made to look as if they were coins. Most, probably no, ebay sellers made this clear.

I thought I had screenshots of some of the ebay listings, but can't find them. * 

At some stage, pre 2017, the Wikipedia "Krugerrands" page contained (mis)information and specifications of "Silver Krugerrands", probably added by some well-meaning but ignorant Wikipedia enthusiast. I seem to remember adding an edit to the page stating that no such thing existed.

Obviously, in 2017, when The South African Mint did launch their first "Silver Krugerrand", this situation changed. Sometime after this, the Wikipedia page was edited to include "Silver Krugerrands", at which time I guess that my previous notes that they did not exist were removed.

The Wikipedia "Talk:Krugerrand" page contains some references to it, and is interesting in that most Wikipedia contributors appear to be quite clueless.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AKrugerrand

* The Wiki page does have a link to a page I wrote, which also has an ebay screenshot:

https://taxfreegold.co.uk/silverkrugerrand.html

😎

 

 

[LawrenceChard]

SA Bullion - Total misinformation about proof and bullion Krugerrands:

SA Bullion Management (Pty) Ltd of First Floor, Brickfield Canvas, 35 Brickfield Road, Woodstock, 7925 seem to know next to nothing about Krugerrands, or anythimg else at all for that matter. When I looked at their address on the Contact Us page of their website, I wondered if it was in the USA rather than in South Africa, but a quick Google Maps search found Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa, rather than Woodstock, NY, USA.

Here is a partial screenshot of a page where they were offering one ounce proof Krugerrands for sale:

Not only do they make the vry common error of stating that one ounce bullion Krugers have 180 serrations, but they state that "1 ounce proof Krugerrands are 24 karat gold", which is nonsense and incorrect. My guess is that whichever idiot wrote that misunderstood the difference between containing "1 ounce of 24 karat gold", and being composed 24 karat gold, but who knows?

The writer switched from plural to singular in one sentence "These coins are priced at a significant premium above their gold value and is not intended..."

In case anyone is in any doubt about the gold alloy, here is a proof Krugerrand certificate with specifications:

Which clearly states (twice over) 1 oz 22 carat Gold.

It also gives the mass as 33.930 grams, and

Metal content Au 916.67, although it does also say Cu 83.33, which may or may not be correct, depending on the year.

I didn't want to spend too much time trawling through their website, which was painfully slow, but happened to motice this:

They appear to offer bullion Krugerrands in a "Set of 10", or "Set of 100". Weird! I guess they just mean 10 coins or 100 coins rather than a "set".

I conclude that their site is run by a "set" of idiots!

😎

 

[LawrenceChard]

 Gold Traders UK Ltd makes multiple mistakes about Krugerrands on its Krugerrand Gold Coins page:

"The Krugerrand is minted from a 22 carat gold alloy which uses 1 ounce of pure gold and 2.826 grams of copper. This is the same alloy used in English gold Sovereigns and is often called "crown gold". This gold-copper alloy makes the Krugerrands more durable and also gives the coins their orange tinted coloration."

They stating the alloy by giving the gold content in ounces, and the copper content in grams, as if whoever wrote the page didn't know what they were talking about, or was completely innumerate. Even if they weren't, it is not a very helpful or clear way of presenting what purports to be basic factual information. It is also wrong, in that Krugerrands originally contained some silver, so they are yellow, although some later ones do not contain silver.

They are also wrong that this is the same alloy (Crown Gold) used in English Gold Sovereigns. For the first 500 years of their existence, gold sovereigns contained silver, and were yellow. Most "crown gold" coins minted contain silver.

Here is a crop of the text:

More errors:

They also say:

"The South African Krugerrand is minted in four denominations. These are 1/10 ounce, 1/4 ounce, 1/2 ounce and 1 ounce. They bear face values of 1 Rand, 2.5 Rands, 5 Rands and 10 Rands respectively."

While it is correct that bullion Krugerrands are minted in 4 sizes or denominations, they do not bear face values of " 1 Rand, 2.5 Rands, 5 Rands and 10 Rands". I do not know why Gold Traders say that, perhaps they are just making it up!

In their next section "Interesting Facts About South African Krugerrands", they again get it wrong:

"Many companies around the world are offering silver Krugerrands for sale. These are not real Krugerrands. As a matter of tradition, Krugerrands have always been minted in gold and the South African Mint has not sanctioned these counterfeit coins. In fact, they have issued a statement that silver Krugerrands have no legal tender value, are not official and are not even real coins. Silver Krugerrands are novelty items only and their only value is their silver content or collectors value."

While this would have been correct before 2017, (as I first pointed out), their "information" is 5 years out of date. I don't know where they copied it from!

They did however get the number of serrations right!

😎

 

[LawrenceChard]

1977 One Ounce Bullion Krugerrands - 177 Serrations According to Numista - Wrong!

According to a Numista page about Krugerrands:

1977     3 331 344                                    7%    Hern#K12; 188 serrations on edge
1977                                         0.3%    Hern#K12; 220 serrations on edge
1977     8 500                                    0.8%    Hern#K12; Proof (188 serrations on edge)
1977                                         0.3%    Hern#K12; Proof (220 serrations on edge)

"Hern" is the author of Hern's Handbook on South African Coins & Patterns, and much of the information on the Numista website is quite reliable, but...

... in this case we don't believe it.

If it had said "180", I would have presumed it was just the usual old misinformation, but 188 sounded credible, but of course, we checked:

And the correct answer is of course, the usual 160.

😎

[SilverStorm]

On 10/05/2022 at 09:45, LawrenceChard said:

And the correct answer is of course, the usual 160.

😎

Of course it was 160, what else could it be?  😜  All kidding aside, this is good, accurate info.  Thanks for posting this Lawrence.