Krugerrand 1/10 oz or American Eagle 1/10 oz: which is the better buy today?
Krugerrand 1/10 oz and American Eagle 1/10 oz hold the same gold — 3.11 g of fine metal each — and differ in everything else: Krugerrand 1/10 oz is struck in 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt by South African Mint, American Eagle 1/10 oz in 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt by United States Mint. With the metal identical, the only thing left to compare is what each dealer charges above it.
| coin | Krugerrand 1/10 oz | American Eagle 1/10 oz |
|---|---|---|
| fine gold | 3.11 g | 3.11 g |
| gross weight | 3.39 g | 3.39 g |
| purity | 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt | 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt |
| diameter | 16.55 mm | 16.5 mm |
| thickness | 1.35 mm | 1.19 mm |
| face value | no denomination | 5 dollars |
| struck | South Africa · since 1980 | United States · since 1986 |
The prices come from the feed, and the feed has not answered yet.
Krugerrand 1/10 oz — The smallest Krugerrand: 3.11 g of gold at 16.5 mm. The dearest gold in the family per gram, and the easiest coin in it to buy, give or carry.
American Eagle 1/10 oz — The most minted of the small American coins: 3.11 g of gold in a 16.5 mm 22 carat disc, with a five-dollar face value and the highest premium in the family.
Both are struck in 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt: the same alloy, the same feel in the hand, and any difference on the scale is a difference in gold.
Both are modern bullion coins, struck for investors — Krugerrand 1/10 oz since 1980, American Eagle 1/10 oz since 1986 — and priced on their metal and the margins above it.
So the comparison is the premium. Whichever of the two a dealer asks less for above its metal is the cheaper gold that day — and that changes shop by shop and day by day, which is what the numbers above are for.