Krugerrand 1 oz or 50 Pesos: which is the better buy today?
Krugerrand 1 oz holds 31.10 g of fine gold and 50 Pesos 37.50 g — close enough to be the same purchase in metal, and far enough apart in everything else not to be the same coin to own.
| coin | Krugerrand 1 oz | 50 Pesos |
|---|---|---|
| fine gold | 31.10 g | 37.50 g |
| gross weight | 33.93 g | 41.67 g |
| purity | 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt | 900 ‰ · 21.6 kt |
| diameter | 32.77 mm | 37 mm |
| thickness | 2.84 mm | 2.69 mm |
| face value | no denomination | 50 pesos |
| struck | South Africa · since 1967 | Mexico · 1921–1947 |
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.
50 Pesos — The Centenario: 37.5 g of fine gold, more than an ounce, struck for the centenary of independence and restruck ever since with the 1947 date.
Both are alloyed — Krugerrand 1 oz at 916.7 ‰ · 22 kt, 50 Pesos at 900 ‰ · 21.6 kt — hard enough to be handled without ceremony; the difference on the scale is alloy, not gold, and the fine gold weight beside it is the only one that counts.
50 Pesos was money before it was an investment — struck from 1921 to 1947 — and is bought today as a bullion coin on the strength of being recognised everywhere; Krugerrand 1 oz has been struck for investors since 1967, and its price is the metal plus the mint’s and the dealer’s margin, nothing else.
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.