Krugerrand 1/2 oz or Krugerrand 1/10 oz: which is the better buy today?
Krugerrand 1/2 oz holds 15.55 g of fine gold and Krugerrand 1/10 oz 3.11 g: Krugerrand 1/2 oz holds 5.00 times the gold of Krugerrand 1/10 oz. The metal costs the same per gram in both; what differs is how much of the price is the coin rather than the gold — and the small one always carries more of it.
| coin | Krugerrand 1/2 oz | Krugerrand 1/10 oz |
|---|---|---|
| fine gold | 15.55 g | 3.11 g |
| gross weight | 16.96 g | 3.39 g |
| purity | 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt | 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt |
| diameter | 27.07 mm | 16.55 mm |
| thickness | 2.21 mm | 1.35 mm |
| face value | no denomination | no denomination |
| struck | South Africa · since 1980 | South Africa · since 1980 |
The prices come from the feed, and the feed has not answered yet.
Krugerrand 1/2 oz — The half ounce, struck since 1980: the same red alloy as the full coin at 27 mm, and the first of the sizes where the premium starts to climb.
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.
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 1/2 oz since 1980, Krugerrand 1/10 oz since 1980 — and priced on their metal and the margins above it.
What decides between them is not the gold, which costs the same per gram in both, but everything charged per coin: striking, distribution, the shop’s margin. Spread over 3.11 g the small coin carries far more of it per gram than the big one does over 15.55 g — which is why Krugerrand 1/10 oz is nearly always the dearer gold, and why it is bought anyway: it sells in smaller pieces, and sells everywhere.