Located on the southernmost portion of the continent of Africa is the Republic of South Africa, the birthplace of Krugerrand gold coins. In addition to mining, it's also known for wool, diamonds and of course precious metal rich ore. It's home to over thirty million people, and has an interesting and checkered past.

The history books credit the official European discovery to a Portuguese sailor named Bartholomew Diaz in 1488, four years before Columbus' famous voyage to America. The first white settlers arrived in 1652, and French, Dutch and Germans followed. In 1795 Great Britain captured the colony, and started centuries of rule and strife. To escape British rule, many Boers (farmers) migrated north and established the Boer Republics of the Transvaal.

In 1877 the British annexed the Transvaal, and the Boers were understandably upset. Two Boer Wars (1880 and 1899) followed, and during this time Paul Kruger (who served as President of the Transvaal) became a hero to the people. The Boers lost the war, and were absorbed into the British Empire- Britain was particularly motivated to win due to the discovery of gold and diamonds in the Boer settled areas. In 1934 the Union of South Africa became a sovereign state in the British Empire. There was still a great of strife between the Boers and the English, and in the mid 1940s the Boers relinquished that status and became a republic- finally withdrawing from the British Commonwealth early 1960s.

The first Krugerrand gold coins were struck in July 1967, as a means to market South African gold to the world. They were the designed as a gold bullion investment vehicle, and were marketed by the amount of gold bullion they contained, which was stamped on the coin, rather than a face value, as was stamped on their predecessors. Paul Kruger was on the obverse of the coin, and the Springbok antelope adorned the reverse. The coins were successful, however due to the shameful policy of apartheid their sale was affected by economic sanctions from the Western countries. When apartheid was abolished and Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president in May of 1994, Krugerrand gold coins took their place as the world's premium and most popular gold bullion coin.