The Chinese lunar calendar is known to be thousands of years old but they still use it today to mark special events and festivities. In fact, their system is known worldwide along with the twelve animals used to differentiate its cycles.

Said to signify the courage and competitiveness of a natural leader, the tiger is one of those twelve animals and is found on some of the newest releases from The Perth Mint. The 2010 Year of the Tiger Silver Coins feature a variety of options for the collector or gift giver.

Perhaps the most popular in this series will be the colored tiger silver coin. Struck from one ounce of 99.9% pure silver, the 1 dollar face value coin shows a lying tiger that has been colorized to its natural hues. To the left of the tiger is the Chinese character for the animal while underneath is the inscription ‘Year of the Tiger.’ The colored coin is available from the Perth Mint for $68.18 AUS and ships with a presentation case. It is limited to a mintage of 170,000 worldwide. Read the rest of this entry »

The Royal Australian Mint is now offering the 2009 $1 Inspirational Australian Steve Irwin Uncirculated Coin. This coin is the second in a series of Inspirational Australians that last year featured Mary MacKillip, who was beatified by Pope John Paul I in 1995.

Steve Irwin was a well-known celebrity who met an untimely fate in 2006. Host of the popular Crocodile Hunter series, Irwin was enthusiastically supportive of Australia’s wildlife.

His parents started the Australia Zoo and Irwin grew up around exotic creatures. He is attributed with wresting with his first crocodile at the age of nine. Not content with merely putting on a show, Irwin was adamant about educating the public about wildlife as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of a technological and historically significant event, The Perth Mint has released the First Man On The Moon 2009 Silver Proof ‘Orbital’ Coin. This coin is the fourth of five in a set of releases that are part of the Perth’s Orbit and Beyond series.

The innovative series capitalizes on the Perth’s abilities to create unique pieces. The Orbit and Beyond coins feature an outer ring design that really orbits around the colored image of Earth in the center. Read the rest of this entry »

Gold Corporation, which trades as The Perth Mint, achieved a record profit before tax of $38 million and capitalised on the favourable market conditions to deliver a dividend of $16 million and an income tax equivalent of $13.1 million to its sole shareholder, the Government of Western Australia.

Gold Corporation is pleased to announce it has achieved a record profit before tax of $38 million for the financial year ended 30 June 2009.

The 2009 figure compares to a profit of $3.7 million in 2008 and was achieved on the back of a major increase in market demand for precious metal bullion and coins.

Gold Corporation experienced a sharp increase in global demand for its minted products, with unit sales of coins, bars and medallions increasing by 50% to 2.7 million (1.8 million units previously). World market share in gold bullion coins was maintained at about 9%. Read the rest of this entry »

The Royal Australian Mint is holding a September Spring Cleaning Collector Auction, marking the first time it has held such an event.

Set for September 12, 2009, the auction will occur at the Mint’s location on Denison Street in the Deakin suburb of the Australian Capital Territory. Registration for the event will start at 2:30 PM and continues until 3:10 PM.

The auction itself is set to begin promptly at 3:15 PM.Only registered bidders will be allowed to participate.

The items slated to be sold make up quite an eclectic collection; from multiple coins to framed posters to information panels. Read the rest of this entry »

The Perth Mint has unveiled its 2010 Silver Bullion Coin Program. Recognized throughout the world for their superior quality, superb artistry and Government guarantee of weight and purity, these magnificent pure silver coins are welcomed annually by both investors and collectors.

The Mint’s 2010 offerings include: Australian Kookaburra Silver Coin Series, Australian Koala Silver Coin Series and the Australian Lunar Silver Coin Series. Each coin is composed of 99.9% pure silver with its purity and weight guaranteed by the Australian Government. Additionally, these coins are considered legal tender under the Australian Currency Act of 1965.

The following described silver coins will be available worldwide through The Perth Mint Web site, or through its authorized distributors and coin dealers: Read the rest of this entry »

The Perth Mint today launched the 2010 Australian Kangaroo Gold Coin Series, continuing its tradition of producing gold bullion coins with an image of Australia’s famous marsupial. This basic kangaroo concept started in 1990, with design variations changing yearly on most of the coins.

Considered legal tender under the Australian Currency Act of 1965, these coins are all 99.99% pure gold, guaranteed by the Australian government for weight and purity.

The Kangaroo series is available in five different sizes: a $15 face value 1/10 oz coin, a $25 1/4 oz coin, a $50 1/2 oz, a $100 1 oz and a $3000 face value 1 kilogram coin. The four smallest sizes feature a new design of two kangaroos ‘boxing’ in the outback with the inscription ‘Australian Kangaroo’ across the top and ‘2010,’ the size and ‘9999 Gold’ across the bottom. Read the rest of this entry »

Marking the 300th Anniversary of a conflict that would shape the political structure of Europe for centuries, the Perth Mint has released the Battle of Poltava 1 oz Silver Bullion Coin.

This battle was just one of many in the Great Northern War, and while not particularly academic in its strategies, the outcome would strip the power of one nation and initiated the growth of power of another.

Before 1709, Sweden was a dominant military force intent on conquest over Europe. Russia was just a pawn, easily overcome by the Swedish in earlier years and left to heal its wounds.

But Tsar Peter I of Russia was not content with just recovering, he wanted to retaliate. To this end, he spent the next several years turning his armies into a modern force, schooled in new tactics and armed with the latest weapons. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the largest gold nuggets ever discovered has gone on display at The Perth Mint.

Newmont Mining Corporation’s Normandy Nugget, which was found in a dry stream bed near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia in 1995, can now be seen up close in the Mint’s fascinating Gold Exhibition.

Weighing in at 25.5 kilograms, it is the second largest nugget in the world today having escaped being melted down, and is the 26th largest gold nugget ever discovered.

Information published by the University of Southern California, where the 40 million year-old nugget was examined in 1999, showed it to be 80 to 90% high purity gold.

That gives the nugget an intrinsic value of approximately AU$800,000 at today’s gold price, but its uniqueness and historical significance means it would doubtless fetch much more. Read the rest of this entry »

Forty years ago today mankind made history with the famous first step on the Moon. In 1969 the Royal Australian Mint made its own history with the issue of the new dodecagonal 50 cent coin.

At a commemorative Apollo 11 anniversary event in Canberra today the Mint officially launches its brand new 50 cent collector coin to celebrate the historic moon landing in 1969.

"Taking the first step on a celestial body is arguably one of the human race’s greatest achievements of all time," said Graham Smith, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Australian Mint.

"Some of the first pictures from the Moon’s surface were sent around the world from Honeysuckle Creek near Canberra and the Royal Australian Mint is proud to officially launch its newest coin to celebrate this occasion," said Mr Smith. Read the rest of this entry »