2011 Australian Coins
Two mints found in the country of Australia are world renowned for both the quality and uniqueness of their strikes - the Perth Mint and the Royal Australian Mint. Some of their coins are shown below.
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2011 Australian Minted Coins |
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The Koala Silver, Kookaburra Silver and the Kangaroo Gold bullion coins are just a few examples of the bullion coins also produced by the mints of Australia.
Additional Australian Coins of Interest
Shown below are additional recent coins produced by the Perth Mint of Australia. Clicking on the included World Mint Coins affiliate links will take you to the product page of that strike on the Perth Mint's website.
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Selected Australian Coin History
Kangaroo Coins
The Perth Mint of Australia actually started the Kangaroo series of coins in 1986. However, they did not originally feature kangaroos but instead contained reverse images of various gold nuggets. This gave them their nickname of "Australian Gold Nuggets" which still is identified with the series today despite their reverse designs now containing an image of kangaroos.
The change in reverse designs first occurred in 1989 with a proof edition. Since then, the remaining series has also changed to feature the marsupial.
Since their introduction, the series has been considered the official gold bullion coin of Australia and is struck from 24 karat gold. It has appeared in varying sizes including 1/20 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, 1 oz, 2 oz, 10 oz, and 1 kg.
Making the series even more unique is the fact that it features annually changing reverse designs making it one of the few bullion coins of the world to do so.
Kookaburra Coins
The Australian Kookaburra Silver Coins first appeared from the Perth Mint in 1990 and are one of the official silver bullion coins of the Perth. They are traditionally struck in three different sizes, 1 kilo, 10oz and 1oz, from 99.9 pure silver.
Shown on the reverse of each strike is an image of the kookaburra. This bird is native to the Australian area and features an extremely unique call.
Koala Coins
Koala Coins were first introduced by the Perth in 1989 and were struck in four different sizes - 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz and 1 oz - all of which were popular with the public. In 2007, the Perth added a Silver Koala Coin.
These new Silver Koalas have also garnered much interest owing to their annually changing reverse designs as well as their composition of .999 fine silver.
About the Perth Mint of Australia
Established in 1899 as a branch of Britain's Royal Mint, the Perth Mint operates today as one of the most state of the art facilities of the world. In 1970, the ownership of the facility was transferred from Great Britain to State Government of Western Australia who still operates the facility today.
Aside from its uniquely collectible coins, the Perth Mint also produces Australia's bullion products as well as gold blanks used by other world mints.
About the Royal Australian Mint
With the introduction of Australia's decimal coinage, a new facility was required for its production. To that end, His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the Royal Australian Mint on February 22, 1965.
Since then it has literally struck billions of circulating coins along with many fine examples of collectible coins.
