Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why buy Gold Krugerrands?

Krugerrands are the most widely held gold bullion coins in the world. The Krugerrand is a practical and classical coin and is still the best way to own gold since 1967. Krugerrands are commonly known to act as a barrier against economic uncertainties, currency devaluations and severe downturn in shares and stocks. As an internationally trusted commodity, having often provided financial security for personal wealth, Krugerrands remain one of the most successful of all bullion issues. They are durable and minted in 22 carat gold and are the easiest form of gold to transport and trade.

2. Why buy Silver?

Silver offers the opportunity to move into true money, an actual store of value, with the potential for substantial gains in future years as its current cycle continues. Protect yourself and your family by acquiring silver with intrinsic value and insulate yourself from the wealth destructive policies of central banks.

3. What is the difference between bullion and proof coins?

Bullion Proof
Linked to the gold price Not linked to the gold price
Unlimited supply Limited supply each year
Quality: Shiny finish Quality: Matt finish & shiny background
No certification Certificate of authenticity issued with year of manufacturing and mintage

4. What are the sizes and weight of a Gold Krugerrands?

Gold Krugerrands come in four sizes: 1 oz (31.1 g), 1/2 oz (15.5 g), 1/4 oz (7.8 g), and 1/10 oz (3.1 g). Each coin contains slightly more than its stated gold weight due to its copper alloy.

5. How many carat is a Gold Krugerrand?

A Gold Krugerrand is 22 carat.

6. How do I know if a Krugerrand is authentic?

In order to test the authenticity of a Krugerrand, IBV Gold uses the Fisch Test – this tests the following in a Krugerrand:

Diameter: 32.77mm

Mass: 33.931gm

Thickness: 2.972mm

The weight of the coin is also tested.

7. Can I buy gold off-shore?

Yes, we have branches available in London, Switzerland and Dubai. Our experienced Gold Portfolio Managers can assist clients with the purchase of gold.

8. What is legal tender coin?

A legal tender can be known as coins, paper money, or other currency issued by a government and used as money. The legal tender value of a coin is the redemption value placed on it by the government.

9. What payment methods are accepted?

EFT: No extra charge. Original proof of payment must be submitted within 1 hour of the order being placed and coins are released once payment has reflected in IBV’s bank account.
Credit card/Debit card: a 3.5% service fee is payable.

10. Why are FICA documents required?

According IBV Gold’s policy, we require FICA documents for internal purpose.

11. How long does delivery take?

Delivery can take 3 to 5 working days, depending on your region and stock availability. We will confirm once your order has been dispatched.

12. When can I collect my order?

Collection can take place from one of our IBV branches in Durban or Sandton. IBV will only hand over stock once funds have reflected in our bank account and is dependent on stock availability.

13. What’s the best way to store my gold?

IBV International Vaults provides safe and secure vault storage facilities, both nationally and internationally, to store gold. IBV International Vaults offers clients peace of mind by ensuring the strictest and safest regulations for gold storage.

14. Do Krugerrands hold VAT?

Gold Krugerrands are legal tender coins, therefore they are zero-rated.

15. Which coins can I sell to IBV Gold?

IBV Gold buys back Gold and Silver Bullion and Bars.

16.What are the risks for me when investing in gold bullion Krugerrands?

Counterparty Risk

Title owned bullion Krugerrands will not expose you to any counterparty risk as you own your gold outright. Other forms of indirect gold ownership which involve a counterparty will expose you to credit risk and risk that the counterparty goes bankrupt i.e. unallocated gold accounts, gold ETFs, gold futures,contracts.

 Market Risk

All assets are affected by prevailing economic and financial conditions that create price changes. This is referred to as market risk. The price of gold can move either up or down and your investment in physical gold will expose you to market risk.

Liquidity Risk

Liquidity risk is the risk that you are unable to find a buyer for your bullion Krugerrands. As a client of IBV you will enjoy perfect liquidity when you decide to sell your Krugerrands. IBV will facilitate the sale of your Krugerrand/s to a guaranteed buyer of your Krugerrands.

17.Why should I invest in gold bullion krugerrands instead of other forms of gold?

Unlike gold bars, the bullion Krugerrand offers you the following advantages;

It is legal tender and attracts no VAT (This is a 15% cost-saving if you are a SA Resident)

It is minted by the South African Mint and underwritten by the South African Reserve Bank which gives you complete assurance of its gold content.

IBV stands as the guaranteed buyer, at full market value, of your bullion Krugerrands.

18.Which refinery does IBV gold acquire my krugerrands from?

Your Krugerrands are purchased directly from the Rand Refinery Limited who is the official agent of the South African Reserve Bank for the worldwide distribution of the Krugerrand. Rand Refinery is the largest gold refiner in the world. IBV client’s acquire newly minted Krugerrands only. (www.randrefinery.com).

19.Where are my krugerrands vaulted and stored?

Your Krugerrands are held in secure custody until collection on site at IBV Vaults, South Africa or it can be delivered to you for safe keeping. 

20.How do I sell my Krugerrands?

You can instruct IBV to sell your Krugerrand/s by completing a redemption form. IBV will then facilitate the sale of your gold/silver to a guaranteed buyer. Settlement into your selected bank account occurs within 2-5 business days.

21.May I take physical delivery of my Krugerrands?

Yes, you may elect to take physical delivery of your Krugerrands at any time. 

Delivery is via Rhenus, an insured courier service – these charges are for the client’s account. IBV will provide a detailed quotation in the event of physical deliveries charges upfront.

22. Is my financial and personal information secure?

Yes, all personal information is transmitted using secure SSL web pages. These pages are encrypted to ensure that no personal financial or identifiable information is made available to anyone other than you, your bank, or the processor.

23. Do you have a retail store ?

Yes. Our Local Directory can help you find a bullion dealer in your area. The dealers in said directory act as representatives of IBV.

24.Do you have any recommended products for new investors?

Yes, we recommend our Starter Pack, which contains 5 coin silver pack at an exclusive price online. We have also listed our most popular and most highly recommended products here. For a full investor’s guide, please download our eBook here.

25.Do you have a referral discount/bonus?

Coming Soon

26.Do you have an affiliate program?

Coming Soon

27.Can I clean my precious metals?

It is always best to keep precious metal products in the same condition in which they were received. Bullion can dull or oxidize over time, but that should not affect the bid or offer price you get when selling to a dealer. Store your metals in a dry, cool place and let them be.

28.Do you have any educational resources?

Our Investing Guide , which is especially useful to beginner investors, has a wealth of information on all things precious metals. We also have a page dedicated to gold prices, which includes a historical gold spot price chart going back ten years, and another page dedicated to silver prices with a similar spot price chart

29.What is gold/silver ratio?

The gold/silver ratio is the amount of silver it takes to buy one (1) troy ounce of gold. To find the gold/silver ratio, simply take the spot price of gold and divide it by the spot price of silver.

Gold Spot / Silver Spot = Gold/Silver Ratio

30.Do you offer storage options?

Yes, we do! We offer secure storage through IBV International Vaults. 

31.Market Loss Fees Explained

As a precious metals dealer, one of the biggest differences between us and a retailer like Amazon is that we sell a product that is constantly fluctuating in price. This adds a layer of complexity to our operations, and our company policies. The most misunderstood policy that we must enforce is our market loss policy. We’ll explain why it’s necessary here.

All major bullion dealers, including ourselves, fully hedge their precious metals inventories. We make our margins on premium spreads – not on spot price speculation. 

In this industry, it would simply be irresponsible to not be fully hedged at all times. If we wanted to speculate on precious metals prices, we could do that separately without needing to run a complex retail operation with thousands of SKUs and a total workforce of nearly 100.

Once a customer places an order, that price is locked in and therefore no longer subject to spot price changes. We are trusting that the customer will pay for their order, and as a result we un-hedge the metals ordered at that time. This takes place the moment the order is placed, not the moment the order is paid for. The metals are now fully exposed to the gains and losses should the customer decide to back out of the agreement and not pay for the order.

32.It’s not fair, you don’t pay me when the price goes up, why should I pay you when it goes down?

Customers looking to speculate on price ought to consider ETFs and not physical retailers of bullion. As you can imagine, we get very few cancellations & unpaid orders for orders where the metal value has since increased. Our cancellation requests are heavily skewed towards orders where the metals have gone down in price.

33.You cancelled my order even though I sent payment. Why is this?

In some cases the payment never arrives. Before we cancel we will send you emails notifying you of the problem, and we will try to work with you on arranging an alternate payment. If we’re unable to get a response from you and the payment doesn’t come through in the allotted time, the order must be cancelled and applicable fees charged.

34.What if your billing department cancels my order?

If our billing department cancels the order due to being unable to properly authenticate payment, no fees will be due regardless of market movements.

35.How quickly are items verified once they’re received?

Most orders are verified the same day they are received. However, during busier times this may take 1-3 business days to occur.

36.How much is my coin/bar worth?

“Pricing will depend entirely, on brand, condition, and availability. For a better idea of what we purchase, the prices we pay, and the ability to sell to us online”.

“The Valuation of your precious metal is dependent on the current spot price of the metal as well as the condition and duristrction your based in. For more information do contact and IBV Gold Consultant”.

37.How will I know if my payment was received?

Should there be a miscommunication on payment acceptance from IBV, our team will be able to assist you further in understanding and rectifying the problem.

Bank Wire Transfers:
Bank wire transfers are deposited directly into our checking account. Bank wires take about half a business day to process. Once your transfer is processed, your order status will move to “Paid,” and we will send an email confirmation of receipt of payment. If it has been over four business hours since you sent your wire transfer, and you have not received an email confirming it has been received, please contact our support center by telephone, or email and we will research.

38.How are your prices determined?

Our prices are set by taking the current spot price plus a premium. The premiums on our products are based on the mint of origin, the complexity of the design, and the uniqueness of the product. Also, our selling price for a product is determined by the price for which we purchased that product. “Some items cost us more to buy; in turn, those items will cost our customers more. Conversely, if a mint charges us less for an item, we pass those savings along to our customers”.

39.Can I modify my order?

Rather than modify your current order, you would need to cancel your current order and place a new order. Keep in mind there may be market loss and/or cancellation fees if you cancel.

40. My order was canceled because it was “high-risk.” What does that mean?

It means your order was canceled because the risk prevention measures we use to verify credit/debit card payments indicated higher-than-average risks on your order. We employ these risk prevention measures for the protection of all our customers. If any funds were charged to your credit/debit card, they should be refunded within 48 hours of your order’s cancellation. We suggest using a  bank wire if you would like to place another order. Once you have placed a successful order via bank wire, you will then be able to charge purchases to a credit/debit card.