Krugerrands

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A gold coin minted in South Africa, primarily used for investment and trade purposes
2. The currency was introduced in 1967 and is named after Paul Kruger, the former president of the South African Republic
3. These coins typically contain one ounce of gold and have become a popular form of physical investment in precious metals

Etymology: "Krugerrands" is the plural of "krugerrand", a gold coin, and the singular is the older form of the two. The coin takes its name from Paul Kruger, the president of the South African Republic (the Transvaal) in the late nineteenth century, while "rand" is the name of South Africa's currency unit, itself taken from the Witwatersrand gold fields where the country's gold was mined. The coin's name thus joins a president's surname to the name of a mining ridge. Introduced in 1967, the coin was minted to sell South Africa's gold abroad, and its name spread widely as it became one of the world's most popular bullion coins. The word is therefore a compound of "Kruger" and "rand", and its plural follows ordinary English practice of adding "-s" to the end.