If you are thinking of buying gold Krugerrands, the official gold bullion coins of South Africa, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with this unique currency. Essentially, you really should develop the skills to determine if a Krugerrand is fake. Hopefully you’ll never need this skill, but it’s nice to have and relatively easy to learn.
The easiest way to avoid buying a fake Krugerrand will be to only deal with a reputable dealer, particularly a coin dealer who specializes in or has extensive experience with Krugerrand coins. These traders will have been dealing with these coins for some time, and should be able to easily tell when a coin isn’t feeling right. Also, reputable coin dealers will be concerned about their reputation, so they will really have an incentive to make sure that they only offer genuine gold coins.
While that’s a step you can take, remember that it’s also relatively easy to verify the authenticity of a Krugerrand on your own. The standards for these coins are published by the South African Mint and are publicly available, so you can compare the coin you are thinking of buying to these standards. Also, you should know that gold has special characteristics that make it unique. Specifically, it has a very high density, higher than other readily available metals. If someone decides to create a fake Krugerrand made from one of these other minor metals, the difference in weight should be quite noticeable if you know what you should be looking for. And you should keep in mind that metals that are as dense as gold are either very difficult to acquire, very expensive, or quite brittle. All of this is to your advantage when trying to spot a fake.
As far as physical characteristics, here’s what you should be looking for: a 1oz Krugerrand has a weight of 33.930g, a diameter of 32.77mm, a thickness of 2.84m and 160 teeth around the rim. A half-ounce Krugerrand has a weight of 16.965 g, a diameter of 27.07 mm, a thickness of 2.215 mm and 185 teeth. A quarter-ounce Krugerrand has a weight of 8.482 g, a diameter of 22.06 mm, a thickness of 1.888 mm and 150 teeth. And finally, a 1/10th ounce Krugerrand has a weight of 3.393g, a diameter of 16.55mm, a thickness of 1.35mm and 115 teeth.
To carry out these tests, you will need a fine-grained ruler that has millimeter markings plus an accurate scale that can weigh in grams. As a substitute, there is also a very useful device known as the Fisch Tester that can test all these things for you. It comes with a coin-shaped hole used to check the shape, a slot to check the thickness and diameter of a coin, and a fulcrum to check the weight of a coin. The Fisch Tester will save you time and effort and can make spotting a fake much easier. At the same time, you should be careful when buying a Fisch Tester on eBay because, in a twist of irony, there have been a few reports of Fisch Tester knockoffs being offered there. To be safe, you may want to buy directly from Fisch.
Armed with this new knowledge, you should now have the ability to spot a fake Krugerrand on your own. Best of luck in your adventures in the gold market!