Australian Silver Kookaburra
The Silver Kookaburra is a silver bullion coin originating from Australia, and produced at the Perth Mint starting in 1990. The coins are .999 fine silver. While the obverse of the coin always depicts Queen Elizabeth II, the reverse side changes every year, always featuring a kookaburra, a bird native to Australia. Due to the yearly design change and limited production of the one ounce coins, they have higher collectible value than some other bullion coins. The Perth Mint generally ships the coins in individual plastic capsules. One-ounce coins ship in shrink wrap rolls of 20, with 5 rolls in each box of 100. Special editions such as proof, high relief, privy marked, colored, and gilded are often available. They are minted in the following four sizes:
| Face Value | Silver Weight | Coin Weight | Diameter | Thickness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A$30 | 1 kilogram | 1002.502g | 101.00mm | 14.60mm |
| A$10 | 10 Troy ounces | 312.347g | 75.50mm | 8.70mm |
| A$2 | 2 Troy ounces | 62.770g | 53.30mm | 4.50mm |
| A$1 | 1 Troy ounce | 31.135g | 40.60mm | 4.00mm |
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the kookaburra coin, the 2015 coin will feature the same image of the kookaburra as the original 1990 coin. To differentiate the 1990 and 2015 coins the date on the reverse reads 1990-2015 and 2015 has been added to the obverse. The 2015 coin has a release date of September 1, 2014.[1]
One Ounce Silver Kookaburra Minting History
The maximum mintage of the one ounce coin is capped while the others have unlimited mintage based on demand. The 2013 mintage was to be expanded to one million, but this was later backed down to 500,000, saying future years would continue to be limited to 500,000.[2]
| Year | Maximum Mintage[3] | Proof and other Special Coins | Declared Mintage[4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 300,000 | ??? | 300,000 |
| 1991 | 300,000 | ??? | 300,000 |
| 1992 | 300,000 | 750 | 219,964 |
| 1993 | 300,000 | 14,500 | 190,581 |
| 1994 | 300,000 | 20,000 | 174,561 |
| 1995 | 300,000 | 300,000 | 154,247 |
| 1996 | 300,000 | 17,400 | 170,105 |
| 1997 | 300,000 | 2,000 | 159,497 |
| 1998 | 300,000 | ??? | 103,119 |
| 1999 | 300,000 | 55,000 | 109,364 |
| 2000 | 300,000 | ??? | 104,169 |
| 2001 | 300,000 | ??? | 169,265 |
| 2002 | 300,000 | ??? | 91,604 |
| 2003 | 300,000 | ??? | 109,439 |
| 2004 | 300,000 | ??? | 84,455 |
| 2005 | 300,000 | ??? | 95,145 |
| 2006 | 300,000 | ??? | 87,044 |
| 2007 | 300,000 | ??? | 213,436 |
| 2008 | 300,000 | ??? | 300,000 |
| 2009 | 300,000 | ??? | 300,000 |
| 2010 | 300,000[5] | ??? | 300,000 |
| 2011 | 500,000[5] | ??? | 500,000 |
| 2012 | 500,000[5] | ??? | 500,000 |
| 2013 | 500,000[2] | ??? | 500,000 |
| 2014 | 500,000[6] | ??? | 500,000 |
Other Perth Mint Silver Bullion Issues
With the success of the Perth Mint's Kookaburra program, more coin series have been issued. In 1996, the mint began the Lunar Series gold coins based on the Chinese zodiac (silver lunar coins started in 1999), with a different animal for each year, and mintage for the 1 ounce silver coin limited to 300,000. This series ran through the entire 12 year cycle and the Lunar Series II in both gold and silver began in 2008. The silver Koala series began in 2007, with unlimited mintage, the highest mintage of 910,480 1 ounce coins occurring in 2011, and the most recent complete year mintage of 334,884 in 2014. [7] In May 2014, the Saltwater Crocodile was introduced with mintage somewhat limited at 1,000,000 and issued without the protective plastic capsule of the other coins. [8] A 1/2 ounce coin, the Great White Shark, was introduced in April 2014, with mintage limited to 300,000. In March 2015, Perth Mint introduced the Funnel Web Spider 1 ounce coin as a sequel to the previous year's Saltwater Crocodile. [9] The 2015 1/2 ounce coin is the Hammerhead Shark.
References
- ↑ "Unveiled - The 2015 Australian Bullion Coin Program". Perth Mint Bullion Blog. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Currie, Ron (30 April 2013). "1oz Australian Kookaburra Mintage Declared At 500,000". Perth Mint Bullion Blog. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
In a move I’m sure will please fans of our annual Australian Kookaburra 1oz silver bullion coin, the mintage of this year’s release has been declared at 500,000. As you will recall, we previously announced that the 2013 issue would be the first in the program’s 23 year history to have a maximum mintage of 1 million – double the limit for the 2012 release, which sold out ... For consistency going forward, we envisage that that the maximum mintage of 500,000 will be applied to all future 1oz Kookaburra releases.
- ↑ "Silver Kookaburra Bullion Coin". Silver Bullion World. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ↑ "The Australian Kookaburra Silver Bullion Coin Series 1990 - 2013". The Perth Mint. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Perth Mint Silver Kookaburra 1oz". Bullion Data. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
- ↑ "Introducing the 2014 Australian Bullion Coin Program". Perth Mint Bullion Blog. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
A number of coins in the 2014 program are subject to limited mintages, including: Series: 1oz Australia Kookaburra; Metal: Silver; Mintage: 500,000
- ↑ "Bullion Mintages - The Perth Mint". perthmint.com.au. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- ↑ Unser, Darrin Lee (14 May 2014). "Perth Mint's Australian Saltwater Crocodile Silver Bullion Coin Debuts". Coin News. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ↑ Woodgate, Mike (14 March 2015). "Saltwater Crocodile Bullion Coin Sequel Is the Funnel Web Spider From Perth Mint". AgAu News. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- Krause, Chester L., and Clifford Mishler (2004). 2005 Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1901–Present (32nd ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873497945.