USA: NEW YORK: KRUGERRAND - MILLENNIUM EDITION

(15 Oct 1999) English/Nat

The South African Krugerrand, the world's premier gold bullion coin, launched its millennium edition in New York on Thursday.

The coin is returning to the U-S gold market after being embargoed for many years.

Manufacturers of the Krugerrand hope to usher in a new era for the legendary coin in the United States, by marking the start of an international initiative to increase gold investment demand.

Since its launch in 1970, more Krugerrands have been issued -- some 46 million ounces -- than all other gold bullion coins combined.

In fact, more Krugerrands, some 15 million ounces, are held in the U-S -- the world's largest gold bullion market -- than the entire worldwide mintage of the American Eagle.

Kelvin Williams, Chairman of Rand Refinery Limited which makes the coins, said the 30 year-old Krugerrand has stood the test of time and remained highly valuable.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"It was a product of great relevance then, and it is still a great product now. It was conceived of as the method, the world's best way of putting gold into the hands of private citizens."
SUPER CAPTION: Kelvin Williams, Chairman, Rand Refinery Limited

The gold bullion coin contains exactly one ounce of gold, or a fraction of an ounce. Its value is directly related to the prevailing gold price. It is wholesaled internationally at a low premium above the gold price, around 3% on the one ounce coin.

It is legal tender, its fine gold content government guaranteed.

Although the Krugerrand was targeted during the mid-1980s during the Apartheid regime as a symbol of the South African government, and therefore placed under international embargo, the makers of the coin feel that its past association will not keep buyers away.

But just in case it does, they have a model for the Mandelarrand ready to go.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Did we think of a different coin? We absolutely did. We intended to, in co-operation with someone whose working on the project right now, to get the support of the government for a Mandelarrand. And we've been trying for over a year to get support for the Mandelarrand as a legal tender coin."
SUPER CAPTION: Kelvin Williams, Chairman, Rand Refinery Limited

As the coins are reintroduced, it will be the first time in 15 years that newly minted Krugerrands have been imported to the U-S.

It is also the first time that a South African coin has been released prior to the year inscribed on the coin.

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