Krugerrand 1 oz or American Eagle 1 oz: which is the better buy today?
Krugerrand 1 oz and American Eagle 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, American Eagle 1 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 oz | American Eagle 1 oz |
|---|---|---|
| fine gold | 31.10 g | 31.10 g |
| gross weight | 33.93 g | 33.93 g |
| purity | 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt | 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt |
| diameter | 32.77 mm | 32.7 mm |
| thickness | 2.84 mm | 2.87 mm |
| face value | no denomination | 50 dollars |
| struck | South Africa · since 1967 | United States · since 1986 |
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.
American Eagle 1 oz — One ounce of gold in a 22 carat alloy, so it weighs more than an ounce on the scale. The most traded bullion coin in the United States.
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 oz since 1967, American Eagle 1 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.