The South African government introduced the Krugerrand bullion coin in 1967. In those days South Africa was producing more than 1.000 tonnes of gold each year. Although these days they don't produce anywhere near as much, probably only one quarter as much, South Africa still has a higher gold mining output than anyone else. There is a certificate issued with every krugerrand coin which guarantees the purity and weight of each coin.
The Krugerrand was made legal tender which gave citizens of the United States a chance to own them as foreign coins as owning gold bullion was illegal at the time.
The Krugerrand got its name because it features Paul Kruger face on the reverse, who helped lead the resistance against the British. He was also the last South African Republic leader. A post he held for four terms. The front of the coin shows the national symbol of South Africa the springbok antelope.
The word "Krugerrand" is a registered trade mark owned by Rand Refinery Limited, a South African corporation of Germiston, South Africa.
With the success the Krugerrand coin had many other countries that produced gold started minting their own coins. First came the Gold Maple Leaf Coin in 1979, then the Australian Nugget followed in 1981. The American Gold Eagle followed in 1986 and the British Sovereign Britannia in 1987.
Krugerrand is commonly misspelt as Krugerand but there are also a number of other misspellings like: Crugerrand, Krugurrand, Kugerand, Krueggerand and Krugarrand, to name but a few.