Australian Gold Kangaroo Coin
Introduced in 1986, Australia's gold Kangaroo, or Nugget as it was originally called, is a 99.99% pure gold coin. It is minted at the Gold Corporation’s Perth Mint, owned by the government of Western Australia.
THE DESIGN:
From 1986 to 1988 the coins displayed images of gold nuggets. Unfortunately, outside Australia, these images were unrecognizable as nuggets. In 1989, to increase appeal, the design was changed to feature Kangaroos, a world-recognized symbol of Australia. Each year the design is changed, featuring a different Kangaroo. On the reverse side is a headshot of Queen Elizabeth; this does not change.
Australian Kangaroo gold coins have legal tender* status in Australia and are one of few legal tender bullion gold coins to change their design every year (another is the Chinese Gold Panda.) Because their annual mintage is limited, this tends to increase numismatic value.
The Australian Kangaroo gold coin has two unique features:
1. A two-tone frosted design with a lighter white gold as the base color and a darker gold color frosted over top.
2. Unlike other non-proof gold bullion coin series, every kangaroo leaves the mint in its own hard plastic case. For a standard-price bullion coin, this is unheard of, and positions the Australian gold Kangaroo as a high-value product.
Australia introduced some of the largest gold coins ever minted: the 2-, 10-, and 32.15-ounce (32.15oz is 1 kilogram) bullion gold coins. These larger sizes are also produced in silver and platinum. Note that the reverse of these larger coins does not change annually; the same "red kangaroo" design is used every year.
Since gold bullion coins are sold at a premium over the cost of their weight in gold, the smaller the denomination, the proportionally larger the premium. These larger weights were created to keep premiums relatively low for buyers of larger quantities of gold. In 1992, the face values on these large coins were lowered to keep them proportional to the 1 oz coin.
Every Australian gold Kangaroo coin is .9999 pure gold. All Kangaroos are shipped from the Perth Mint shrink-wrapped in lots of 20.
- The one-ounce gold Kangaroo has a face value of $100 Australian. Diameter is 32.1 mm, with a thickness of 2.8 mm.
- The half-ounce gold Kangaroo has a face value of A$50. Diameter is 25.1mm, thickness 2.4mm.
- The quarter-ounce gold Kangaroo has a face value of A$25. Diameter is 20.1 mm, thickness 2 mm.
- The tenth-ounce gold Kangaroo has a face value of A$15. Diameter is 16.1mm, thickness is 1.5 mm.
- The twentieth-ounce gold Kangaroo has a face value of A$5. Diameter is 14.1 mm, thickness is 1.4mm.
The Australian Gold Nugget coins should not be mistaken for The Australian Lunar Gold Bullion coins. Both coins are minted by Perth Mint and have .9999 purity, but Lunar coins use images of different animals from the Chinese calendar instead of the kangaroo.
*Kangaroos are technically legal tender in Australia, not at face value but at the current market value for their weight in gold.
Thank you to Wikipedia and Author Paul Jorgensen
