There are thirty-three known bullion coins in the world. Of these, 5 are made of platinum, 1 of palladium, 9 of silver, and 18 of gold. And of all these precious metal coins, the South African gold bullion coin Krugerrand is perhaps the most popular.
In 1967, the South African Mint Company introduced the Krugerrand, with the intention of circulating it as currency. Its status as a legal tender was seen as the best way for marketing South African gold around the world. In fact, thirteen years after its introduction, this precious metal coin accounted for about ninety percent of the gold coin market.
The Krugerrand comes in four varieties:
1. One-tenth ounce coin (0.11 troy ounce in weight, 1.35 millimeters thick, and 16.55 millimeters in diameter).
2. Quarter ounce coin (0.27 troy ounce in weight, 1.89 millimeters thick, and 22.06 millimeters in diameter).
3. Half ounce coin (0.55 troy ounce in weight, 2.22 millimeters thick, and 27.07 millimeters in diameter).
4. One ounce coin (1.09 troy ounces in weight, 2.84 millimeters thick, and 32.77 millimeters in diameter).
Each of these four coin varieties is 22K, containing 91.67% pure gold and 8.33% copper. This composition was meant to make the coins more durable and harder and thus resist dents and scratches, as, again, they were originally intended for circulation.
On the obverse of the Krugerrand is the face of Stephanus Jonannes Paulus Kruger, fifth president of the South African Republic (note the surname Kruger and the South African currency Rand were combined to give this precious metal coin its name). Also here are the Afrikaans and English versions of the name "South Africa", both inscribed in capital letters.
On the reverse of the coin is an image of the springbok, an antelope specie which is a South African national symbol. Atop the image is an inscription of the name of the coin, in capital letters, while below it is the coin's gold content, inscribed in Afrikaans and English.
Special samples of the coin (proof Krugerrand) are minted and offered as collector's items. These proof Krugerrands are priced above the bullion Krugerrands. The two coin versions can be distinguished from one another by the number of serrations they have - the proof version has 220, while the bullion has 40 less than the former's.
Other nations, such as Canada, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, started producing their own precious metal coins one after the other beginning in 1979. The decisions of these gold-producing countries to mint their own bullion coins were most likely inspired by the success of the Krugerrand in its role as a vehicle for promoting the South African gold to the international market. As of 2008, about 1.3 million kilograms of South African gold, contained in Krugerrand coins, have been sold.
Unlike the bullion coin series of other countries, which come in gold and silver, the Krugerrand comes only in gold. Coins made of silver that are passed off as "Krugerrands" are neither produced by the South African Mint Company nor sanctioned by the government of South Africa.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Precious Metal Determinants: Rarity And High Economic Value
A metal is considered "precious" if it is rare and is of high economic value. Under these two factors, nine metallic chemical elements qualify as precious metals. These are, in no particular order, gold, palladium, silver, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, platinum, osmium, and rhenium.
So that while the chemical element tellurium is considered one of the rarest element in the Earth's crust (its mass abundance being the same as that of rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium), its estimated price is only less than 5 U.S. dollars per troy ounce, and, therefore, cannot be considered a precious metal. The same can be said of bismuth, which has a mass abundance half less than that of palladium, but with a price of only a little more than a tenth of tellurium's price.
In terms of mass abundance, expressed in parts per billion (ppb), here's how the nine precious metals are ranked (rare to rarest): 9th: silver (75 ppb); 8th: palladium (15 ppb); 7th: gold (4 ppb); 6th: osmium (1.5 ppb); 5th to 3rd: iridium, rhodium, and ruthenium (1 ppb); 2nd: rhenium (0.7 ppb); and 1st: platinum (0.003 ppb).
The ranking appears different when the estimated world market prices, per troy ounce, of these nine precious metals are considered (estimates as of January 2010):
1st: Rhodium - USD2,750
2nd: Platinum - USD1,555
3rd: Gold - USD1,131
4th: Palladium - USD424
5th: Iridium - USD408
6th: Osmium - USD380
7th: Rhenium - USD194
8th: Ruthenium - USD173
9th: Silver - USD18
Of the nine precious metals, gold and silver are the best known. Apart from being traditional coinage metals (along with copper), both gold and silver are also well known for their uses in jewelry and art; they likewise have certain industrial uses.
A third important factor that will qualify an element as a precious metal, as may be noted from the uses of gold and silver above, is that it should not be radioactive. Thus, the chemical elements actinium, polonium, and radium are not considered precious metals because they are highly radioactive.
Compared to most other elements, precious metals are chemically less reactive, have higher melting points, and are more ductile - properties that make them ideal for many commercial and industrial applications.
In earlier times, precious metals were mainly used as currency. Today, however, they are highly regarded as investment and industrial commodities. Four of them, in fact - silver, gold, platinum, and palladium -, are minted into coins or cast into ingots and traded on commodity markets. All four are assigned the ISO 4217 currency code.
Hence, the role of precious metals as investments, on top of their practical use, drives the demand for them. For thousands of years, precious metals have demanded prices that are much higher than those of common industrial metals, such as nickel (about 36 cents per troy ounce) and copper (about 11 cents per troy ounce). As a matter of fact, there have been significant increases in the prices of precious metals at the turn of the Twenty-First century. This has encouraged many enterprises to go into precious metal recycling.
So that while the chemical element tellurium is considered one of the rarest element in the Earth's crust (its mass abundance being the same as that of rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium), its estimated price is only less than 5 U.S. dollars per troy ounce, and, therefore, cannot be considered a precious metal. The same can be said of bismuth, which has a mass abundance half less than that of palladium, but with a price of only a little more than a tenth of tellurium's price.
In terms of mass abundance, expressed in parts per billion (ppb), here's how the nine precious metals are ranked (rare to rarest): 9th: silver (75 ppb); 8th: palladium (15 ppb); 7th: gold (4 ppb); 6th: osmium (1.5 ppb); 5th to 3rd: iridium, rhodium, and ruthenium (1 ppb); 2nd: rhenium (0.7 ppb); and 1st: platinum (0.003 ppb).
The ranking appears different when the estimated world market prices, per troy ounce, of these nine precious metals are considered (estimates as of January 2010):
1st: Rhodium - USD2,750
2nd: Platinum - USD1,555
3rd: Gold - USD1,131
4th: Palladium - USD424
5th: Iridium - USD408
6th: Osmium - USD380
7th: Rhenium - USD194
8th: Ruthenium - USD173
9th: Silver - USD18
Of the nine precious metals, gold and silver are the best known. Apart from being traditional coinage metals (along with copper), both gold and silver are also well known for their uses in jewelry and art; they likewise have certain industrial uses.
A third important factor that will qualify an element as a precious metal, as may be noted from the uses of gold and silver above, is that it should not be radioactive. Thus, the chemical elements actinium, polonium, and radium are not considered precious metals because they are highly radioactive.
Compared to most other elements, precious metals are chemically less reactive, have higher melting points, and are more ductile - properties that make them ideal for many commercial and industrial applications.
In earlier times, precious metals were mainly used as currency. Today, however, they are highly regarded as investment and industrial commodities. Four of them, in fact - silver, gold, platinum, and palladium -, are minted into coins or cast into ingots and traded on commodity markets. All four are assigned the ISO 4217 currency code.
Hence, the role of precious metals as investments, on top of their practical use, drives the demand for them. For thousands of years, precious metals have demanded prices that are much higher than those of common industrial metals, such as nickel (about 36 cents per troy ounce) and copper (about 11 cents per troy ounce). As a matter of fact, there have been significant increases in the prices of precious metals at the turn of the Twenty-First century. This has encouraged many enterprises to go into precious metal recycling.
Precious Metal Determinants: Rarity And High Economic Value
A metal is considered "precious" if it is rare and is of high economic value. Under these two factors, nine metallic chemical elements qualify as precious metals. These are, in no particular order, gold, palladium, silver, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, platinum, osmium, and rhenium.
So that while the chemical element tellurium is considered one of the rarest element in the Earth's crust (its mass abundance being the same as that of rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium), its estimated price is only less than 5 U.S. dollars per troy ounce, and, therefore, cannot be considered a precious metal. The same can be said of bismuth, which has a mass abundance half less than that of palladium, but with a price of only a little more than a tenth of tellurium's price.
In terms of mass abundance, expressed in parts per billion (ppb), here's how the nine precious metals are ranked (rare to rarest): 9th: silver (75 ppb); 8th: palladium (15 ppb); 7th: gold (4 ppb); 6th: osmium (1.5 ppb); 5th to 3rd: iridium, rhodium, and ruthenium (1 ppb); 2nd: rhenium (0.7 ppb); and 1st: platinum (0.003 ppb).
The ranking appears different when the estimated world market prices, per troy ounce, of these nine precious metals are considered (estimates as of January 2010):
1st: Rhodium - USD2,750
2nd: Platinum - USD1,555
3rd: Gold - USD1,131
4th: Palladium - USD424
5th: Iridium - USD408
6th: Osmium - USD380
7th: Rhenium - USD194
8th: Ruthenium - USD173
9th: Silver - USD18
Of the nine precious metals, gold and silver are the best known. Apart from being traditional coinage metals (along with copper), both gold and silver are also well known for their uses in jewelry and art; they likewise have certain industrial uses.
A third important factor that will qualify an element as a precious metal, as may be noted from the uses of gold and silver above, is that it should not be radioactive. Thus, the chemical elements actinium, polonium, and radium are not considered precious metals because they are highly radioactive.
Compared to most other elements, precious metals are chemically less reactive, have higher melting points, and are more ductile - properties that make them ideal for many commercial and industrial applications.
In earlier times, precious metals were mainly used as currency. Today, however, they are highly regarded as investment and industrial commodities. Four of them, in fact - silver, gold, platinum, and palladium -, are minted into coins or cast into ingots and traded on commodity markets. All four are assigned the ISO 4217 currency code.
Hence, the role of precious metals as investments, on top of their practical use, drives the demand for them. For thousands of years, precious metals have demanded prices that are much higher than those of common industrial metals, such as nickel (about 36 cents per troy ounce) and copper (about 11 cents per troy ounce). As a matter of fact, there have been significant increases in the prices of precious metals at the turn of the Twenty-First century. This has encouraged many enterprises to go into precious metal recycling.
So that while the chemical element tellurium is considered one of the rarest element in the Earth's crust (its mass abundance being the same as that of rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium), its estimated price is only less than 5 U.S. dollars per troy ounce, and, therefore, cannot be considered a precious metal. The same can be said of bismuth, which has a mass abundance half less than that of palladium, but with a price of only a little more than a tenth of tellurium's price.
In terms of mass abundance, expressed in parts per billion (ppb), here's how the nine precious metals are ranked (rare to rarest): 9th: silver (75 ppb); 8th: palladium (15 ppb); 7th: gold (4 ppb); 6th: osmium (1.5 ppb); 5th to 3rd: iridium, rhodium, and ruthenium (1 ppb); 2nd: rhenium (0.7 ppb); and 1st: platinum (0.003 ppb).
The ranking appears different when the estimated world market prices, per troy ounce, of these nine precious metals are considered (estimates as of January 2010):
1st: Rhodium - USD2,750
2nd: Platinum - USD1,555
3rd: Gold - USD1,131
4th: Palladium - USD424
5th: Iridium - USD408
6th: Osmium - USD380
7th: Rhenium - USD194
8th: Ruthenium - USD173
9th: Silver - USD18
Of the nine precious metals, gold and silver are the best known. Apart from being traditional coinage metals (along with copper), both gold and silver are also well known for their uses in jewelry and art; they likewise have certain industrial uses.
A third important factor that will qualify an element as a precious metal, as may be noted from the uses of gold and silver above, is that it should not be radioactive. Thus, the chemical elements actinium, polonium, and radium are not considered precious metals because they are highly radioactive.
Compared to most other elements, precious metals are chemically less reactive, have higher melting points, and are more ductile - properties that make them ideal for many commercial and industrial applications.
In earlier times, precious metals were mainly used as currency. Today, however, they are highly regarded as investment and industrial commodities. Four of them, in fact - silver, gold, platinum, and palladium -, are minted into coins or cast into ingots and traded on commodity markets. All four are assigned the ISO 4217 currency code.
Hence, the role of precious metals as investments, on top of their practical use, drives the demand for them. For thousands of years, precious metals have demanded prices that are much higher than those of common industrial metals, such as nickel (about 36 cents per troy ounce) and copper (about 11 cents per troy ounce). As a matter of fact, there have been significant increases in the prices of precious metals at the turn of the Twenty-First century. This has encouraged many enterprises to go into precious metal recycling.
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