Krugerrand 1 oz or Britannia 1 oz: which is the better buy today?
Krugerrand 1 oz and Britannia 1 oz hold the same gold — 31.10 g of fine metal each — and differ in everything else: Krugerrand 1 oz is struck in 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt by South African Mint, Britannia 1 oz in 999.9 ‰ · 24 kt by The Royal Mint. With the metal identical, the only thing left to compare is what each dealer charges above it.
| coin | Krugerrand 1 oz | Britannia 1 oz |
|---|---|---|
| fine gold | 31.10 g | 31.10 g |
| gross weight | 33.93 g | 31.10 g |
| purity | 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt | 999.9 ‰ · 24 kt |
| diameter | 32.77 mm | 32.69 mm |
| thickness | 2.84 mm | 2.79 mm |
| face value | no denomination | 100 pounds |
| struck | South Africa · since 1967 | United Kingdom · since 1987 |
The prices come from the feed, and the feed has not answered yet.
Krugerrand 1 oz — The coin that invented the one-ounce bullion market in 1967. Copper in the alloy gives it its red tone and its hardness.
Britannia 1 oz — Struck in 999.9 gold since 2013 — earlier ones are 22 carat. Legal tender in the United Kingdom, which is what exempts it from capital gains tax there.
Krugerrand 1 oz is 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt, so it weighs 33.93 g for its 31.10 g of gold; Britannia 1 oz is 999.9 ‰ · 24 kt, 31.10 g on the scale. Neither holds more gold for the difference: the alloy is hardness, which is why Krugerrand 1 oz can be handled and Britannia 1 oz travels in a capsule.
Both are modern bullion coins, struck for investors — Krugerrand 1 oz since 1967, Britannia 1 oz since 1987 — 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.