This 2025 Silver Krugerrand Was Made from a Sunken Warship: the SS Tilawa

Imagine turning a heartbreaking WWII tragedy into something you can hold in your hand.

A silver coin that tells a real story of loss, survival, and second chances. That's precisely what’s just dropped: the 2025 Silver Krugerrand with a super-exclusive SS Tilawa privy mark. It's made from 60 tonnes of silver bullion pulled straight from a sunken shipwreck—and only a few hundred of these one-ounce beauties are available in South Africa. If you're into history, coins, or just cool stories, this one's for you!

Let me take you back to 1942. Picture this: It's November 20th, and the British passenger liner SS Tilawa is chugging out of Mumbai's Ballard Pier, heading for Durban with stops in Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, and Maputo. This 451-foot beast, powered by a coal-fired steam engine, is packed to the gills—732 passengers (think families and civilians hustling home before wartime visas expired), 222 crew, four gunners, and a whopping 6,000 tonnes of cargo. Oh, and buried in there? 75 tonnes of pure silver bars from the Bombay Mint, bound for South Africa's mint to keep the wartime economy humming.

Three days in, on November 23rd, disaster strikes in the Indian Ocean—930 miles northeast of the Seychelles. A Japanese submarine fires two torpedoes at the unarmed civilian ship. Boom—the Tilawa goes down in minutes, taking 280 lives with it, including women and children. It's been called the "Indian Titanic," and for good reason. HMS Birmingham and SS Carthage swoop in to save 678 survivors, but the wreck vanishes into 6,000 feet of water... for 75 years

Fast-forward to 2017. A team from Argentum Exploration Ltd uses cutting-edge deep-sea tech to haul up those 2,400 silver bars. This "resurrected silver" (that's .9990 fine) is now melted down and struck into these limited-edition Krugerrands. Talk about giving history a glow-up!

Rael Demby, CEO of the South African Gold Coin Exchange and The Scoin Shop, puts it perfectly:

"A Tilawa Krugerrand is history preserved. This coin keeps the memory of those lost alive, shares survivor stories, and honours their sacrifice."

Couldn't agree more!

So, what's the coin look like? Flip it over: The front has Paul Kruger's classic portrait. The back? Coert Steynberg's iconic springbok antelope, plus this exclusive SS Tilawa privy mark—a sleek silhouette of the ship that screams adventure (and a bit of tragedy). Each one's a tiny time capsule: wartime grit, human endurance, and that economic hustle all rolled into one ounce of silver.

If you're a collector or just love a good tale, grab one while you can—these are rare and already flying off the shelves.