Congress OKs U.S. Gold Coins

Congress today passed and sent to President Reagan a bill authorizing the U.S. Treasury to mint gold bullion coins as competition for the South African krugerrand, whose import was banned Oct. 1 as part of a series of U.S. economic sanctions to protest apartheid.

The gold coins will come in four sizes: one ounce with a face value of $50, a half-ounce valued at $25, a quarter-ounce at $10 and a tenth-ounce at $5. The coins would be the first U.S. gold coins minted since 1934, when the United States abandoned the gold standard.