Why did I choose the Krugerrand?

Krugerrands are gold. The South African government wanted to encourage people to buy gold mined in their country, and so they did three things to make it more attractive.

1) Countries (including the U.S.) have a history of confiscating precious metals like gold during economic crises. However, there has been a tacit understanding that one country doesn't confiscate the legal tender of another country, even if the currency is a precious metal.

To make Krugerrands more attractive, South Africa made the Krugerrand legal currency, which theoretically affords the gold protection from confiscation.

2) When countries have minted hard currency out of precious metals, they traditionally denominate the coins in fiat units (e.g. dollars). For example, I have a gold "Eagle", it's a $10 coin minted by the United States. It's legal tender. I could legally buy lunch with it. However, countries (including the U.S.) have historically always taken certain forms of currency out of circulation, including making possession of the old currency a crime. Going back to the example of the Eagle, the face value is $10, but it's a full 1/4 oz. of gold, meaning that the metal is worth more than twenty times its face value. Technically the Federal government could force people to trade in their Eagles for $10.

To make Krugerrands more attractive, South Africa denominated the Krugerrand by weight, not rands (their money). So no matter what the value of the rand, the Krugerrand retains its value by weight, rather than fluctuating up and down depending on the exchange rate for the rand.

3) Krugerrands typically have a low margin, typically 1% markup (above the going "spot" price), so they're much better deals than the companies advertising on the radio, who sell Swiss Francs with a 30% markup. !!!yikes!!!

So, why did I choose the Krugerrand?
I can pick them up on eBay pretty easy.