The Perth Mint of Australia announced June 1 the availability of a new 2017 Australian Koala 1oz Silver Bullion Coin which features a miniature rooster as a privy mark.
Only 25,000 will be sold, according to the Mint, matching the mintage of the similar Koala with a kangaroo privy mark coin that was released in April.
"The coin is likely to be popular among both investors and collectors, particularly those born in the Year of the Rooster, which includes 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005 and 2017," the Perth Mint describes.
Coins often carry a small mintmark, usually a single letter, to identify where they are made. In the early 1990s, the Perth Mint began adding tiny privy mark symbols to some limited-edition coins to increase their numismatic appeal.
The reverse or tails side of the new Koala coin looks like the standard 1oz and 1 kilo versions issued for this year, showing a koala sitting at the base of a eucalyptus tree. In the key difference, the standard coins have a second tree in the background whereas the newest coin has a rooster privy mark instead of the tree. Reverse inscriptions include AUSTRALIAN KOALA, 2017, and 1oz 999 SILVER.
The Koala coin’s obverse or heads side shows the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty with inscriptions of ELIZABETH II, AUSTRALIA and 1 DOLLAR.
Perth Mint-provided specifications include:
- Precious Metal Content (troy oz): 1.000
- Fineness: 99.9% purity
- Weight (g): 31.135
- Denomination: 1.00
- Diameter (mm): 40.6
- Standard Thickness (mm): 4.000
The Koala coin with rooster privy mark is sold on perthmintbullion.com. The coin is also distributed by Perth Bullion Co. (www.perthbullion.com) within Australia and by APMEX (www.apmex.com) internationally.
