The Perth Mint of Australia just released its August collections of silver and gold coins. They range in sizes from 1/2oz to 1 kilo. Several are very unique in appearance with extra thickness, gear-like shaping, and antiqued finishing.
The Mint’s latest offerings showcase designs honoring the 100th anniversary end of World War I, the evolution of industry, and the bicentenary of the Macquarie Lighthouse. More traditional-themed designs are also featured, including those depicting kangaroos, koalas, wedge-tailed eagles and dragons.
Perth Mint summary information for the coins and images of them are below.
End of WWI 100th Anniversary 2018 Gold and Silver Coins
These beautiful coins commemorate the centenary of the Armistice in 1918. Signed between France, Britain and Germany in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne north of Paris, the Armistice implemented a ceasefire at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Featured on each coin’s reverse is a dove, a bird which has for millennia represented peace, holding in its beak a red poppy. Poppies were the first flowers to bloom in the devastated battlefields of Western Europe and soon became widely accepted as the symbol of remembrance. In the background is the word peace struck in different fonts,
Struck from 99.99% pure gold or silver, each coin is issued as legal tender under the Australian Currency Act 1965. No more than 250 2oz gold proof high relief and 1,000 1/4oz gold proof coins will be released. No more than 5,000 1oz silver proof and 500 5oz silver antiqued coins will be released.
Evolution of Industry 2018 1oz Silver Antiqued Gear-shaped Two-coin Set
This innovative 1oz silver gear-shaped two-coin set chronicles early industrial development and technology. Key developments in these areas spurred industrial and technological advances resulting in what we know today as the First and Second Industrial Revolutions.
Developments in Steam: The reverse design of the coin representing developments in steam depicts a number of significant inventions that contributed to the First Industrial Revolution. Imagery represents an early steam locomotive and the railways; the chimneys of Britain’s mills and early factories which used steam power for driving machinery on a large scale; a flywheel and other components symbolising elements of Boulton and Watt’s steam engine; and an early steamboat similar to the type pioneered for use on the Forth and Clyde canal by William Symington.
Developments in Electricity: The reverse design of the coin representing electricity depicts a representation of Thomas Edison’s incandescent lightbulb. The inventor himself is symbolised at Pearl Street Station in front of its electrical generating equipment. The design also incorporates a representation of spectacular electrical discharges from a Tesla coil, a system invented in 1891 that produced extremely high voltages used by Tesla in experiments aimed at achieving wireless transmission of energy.
Struck from 99.99% pure silver with an antiqued finish, only 1,000 sets will be released. The two-coin set is presented in an acrylic case with a mechanism to rotate the coins.
Macquarie Lighthouse Bicentenary 2018 1oz Silver Proof Coin
Australia’s earliest colonial lighthouse, first exhibited on 30 November 1818, is an imposing 26m tall landmark on Sydney Harbour’s southern headland overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This coin celebrates the bicentenary of the lighthouse with a limited mintage of 3,000.
Its reverse features a depiction of the historic lighthouse with a representation of the beams of light that are a beacon to vessels entering Sydney Harbour in darkness.
Australian Kangaroo 2018 1oz Silver Gilded Edition
This spectacular silver gilded edition features a true blue Aussie icon — the kangaroo, gilded in stunning 24 carat gold. The pair of kangaroos are seen bounding across a stylised rural landscape.
Each coin is meticulously struck from 1oz of 99.99% pure silver with a mintage of 5,000.
Australian Kookaburra 2018 1 Kilo Silver Proof Coin
This spectacular 1 kilo, 99.99% pure silver coin features the Australian kookaburra in full flight with the moon in the background.
The Perth Mint will release no more than 300 of the Australian Kookaburra 2018 1 Kilo Silver Proof Coin.
Australian Koala 2018 1oz Silver Proof High Relief Coin
This 1oz silver proof coin features the iconic koala astride two branches in a flowering eucalyptus tree in stunning high relief.
Struck from 99.99% pure silver, the coin has an issue limit of 9,000.
Australian Koala 2018 5oz Gold Proof Coin
The Perth Mint is pleased to present the 2018 Australian Koala 5oz Gold Proof Coin, featuring one of Australia’s most loved marsupials. Like in the coin shown above, the koala is seen astride two branches in a flowering eucalyptus tree.
Struck from 99.99% pure gold, only 50 coins will be released.
Australian Wedge-tailed Eagle 2018 2oz Silver Proof Piedfort Coin
This beautiful silver coin celebrates one of Australia’s most incredible birds of prey, the wedge-tailed eagle. With its extra thick planchet, this 2oz coin is reminiscent of traditional ‘piedforts’, which take their name from the French words for heavy weight. The coin’s reverse depicts a mother wedge-tailed eagle looking down on a chick.
With only 3,000 being released, this coin is struck from 99.99% pure silver in proof quality.
Dragon 2018 1oz Gold & Silver Proof Rectangular Coins
In Chinese culture, the dragon is revered as a divine mythical creature, a symbol of power, strength, wealth, and good fortune, and it is often portrayed alongside a luminous or flaming pearl. The rectangular coins’ reverse depict a stylised Chinese dragon chasing a flaming pearl, with wind, clouds and water in the background.
Struck from 99.99% pure gold and pure silver, no more than 188 1oz gold and 3,888 1oz silver coins will be released.
Looney Tunes – SYLVESTER 2018 1/2oz Silver Proof Coin
Sylvester J. Pussycat Sr., commonly known as SYLVESTER, first pounced on to screens in 1945. SYLVESTER appeared in 103 cartoons, three of them in which he starred won Academy Awards, making the tuxedo cat the ‘owner’ of more Oscar statuettes than any other Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies character. This coin’s reverse features SYLVESTER appearing to burst out of the concentric rings of the Looney Tunes logo.
Struck from 1/2oz 99.99% pure silver, this coin has a mintage of 5,000.
TM & © WBEI (s18)
Ordering
Additional information, ordering options and current pricing on the coins are available from the Perth Mint’s website at www.perthmint.com.au. Here is an affiliate link to the Mint’s new releases.
Amazing just what kind of an innovation coin a mint can create when it is not required to inscribe a plethora of words it.