[yorkiemom]

The South African Krugerrand is 1.1 ounces, 1.0 ounces is gold and the other .1 ounce is copper. Pure gold is to soft to make into coins without an alloy. The copper gives the Kruggerrand it's distinctive 'red' hue. I bought many of these in the early 90's for $382.00 each.

Thanks for the info. I had been wondering how gold coins manage to not get damaged through the years, since pure gold is soft. I didn't expect that every collector was ultra-careful.

[Travis McGee]

Some coins are “soft” pure gold. Canadian Maple Leafs, Chinese Pandas, and some others. Normally they are each kept in a little plastic case, except for inspections at sale. They can ding each other up if stored against one another.