Buy Krugerrands and Avoid Fakes

When you buy krugerrands the majority of fake krugerrands can be identified easily. The best and easiest way to avoid a fake krugerrand is not to get one in the first place –you can eliminate a lot of risk with gold bullion coins by simply dealing with a reputable dealer. Dealers who handle gold coins every day will notice when one is off color or lighter than it should be. They also have an incentive to ensure that their reputation remains intact for future business.

Regardless of where you buy your gold krugerrands, it’s still a good idea to verify their authenticity. Fortunately the South African mint publishes standards on what’s an authentic krugerrand should look like. Specifically the weight, diameter, and thickness are all published so that anyone can verify the gold in their hand is an actual krugerrand.

The reason why knowing the krugerrand’s specifications is valuable because of the very specific properties of gold; to be more exact gold is a very dense and heavy metal. This density, or specific gravity, is very difficult to counterfeit. For example if a counterfeiter made a krugerrand using an authentic mold cast from a real coin, but instead used lead, the krugerrand and would be only 2/3 as heavy as a real krugerrand gold coin. The only other metals that have the same specific gravity as gold are radioactive, with the exception of tungsten, which is brittle and difficult to work cold. You could also probably get away the with making a fake krugerrand out of platinum, however, given that platinum is more expensive than gold as of this writing, it’s not a good idea as a criminal enterprise.

To check a krugerrand yourself you need a good quality digital scale, and accurate calipers. The calipers will be used to check the diameter and also the thickness of the coin. Remember, the diameter, weight and thickness must all be correct to ensure your coin and is actually made out of gold.

OK if you’re ready to buy a one ounce krugerrand, here’s what you need to look for: it should weigh 33.930 grams, have a diameter of 32.77mm and a thickness of 2.84 mm. A 1/2 oz krugerrand weighs 16.965g, has a diameter of 27.07mm and is 2.215 mm thick. A 1/4 oz krugerrand weighs in at 8.482 g, has a diameter of 22.06mm, and a thickness of 1.888 MM. Last but not least, a one tenth ounce gold krugerrand weighs in at 3.393 g, has a diameter 16.55mm and a thickness of 1.35 mm.

If all that is a bit complicated, there’s a quick and easy way to test the krugerrand. Fisch instruments makes a gold krugerrand tester which tests the weight, thickness, and diameter in less than 20 seconds. The tester is quite small and comes in a wallet which accommodates several different sizes of krugerrands. Unfortunately there are unscrupulous people who would try to sell you a counterfeit krugerrand. You can buy krugerrands with confidence if you know what to look for –which is of course the weight, diameter, and thickness.