Australian 2016 Lion and Monkey Privy Mark Coins Sell Out

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The Perth Mint recently announced sellouts of two 1-ounce of .999 pure silver bullion coins with privy marks.

Photos of 2016 Year of the Monkey and Kookaburra Privy Mark Bullion Coins
Photos of 2016 Year of the Monkey and Kookaburra Privy Mark Bullion Coins

One mark depicts a monkey and appears on a special 2016 Australian Kookaburra coin and the other one shows a Bavarian Lion and is on a unique Lunar Series II 2016 Year of Monkey coin.

"Traditionally, a privy mark is a small mark of differentiation in the design of a coin added for the purpose of identifying the mint," the Perth Mint describes.

The Perth Mint introduced their first privy-marked issue in 1992 on a 2-ounce Kookaburra silver coin. Since then, it and other world mints have released many silver and even gold coins with specialized privy marks.

2016 Year of the Monkey and Kookaburra Privy Mark Bullion Coins in Capsules
2016 Year of the Monkey and Kookaburra Privy Mark bullion coins ship in plastic capsules

As for the coins that sold out, the maximum mintage for the 2016 Australian Kookaburra Silver Bullion Monkey Privy Coin was 50,000 while the 2016 Year of the Monkey Silver Bullion Lion Privy Coin was 30,000.

Monkey privy-mark
Close-up of the Monkey privy-mark on the 2016 Australian Kookaburra coin
Lion privy-mark
Close-up of the Lion privy-mark on the 2016 Year of the Monkey coin

As bullion coins, the pair were released to the market through official distributors in Australia, Europe, North America and Hong Kong. Today, the two are available from coin and bullion dealers from about $8 to $16 over their silver values.

Below are a few more photos of the coins.

2016 Australian Kookaburra Silver Bullion Monkey Privy Coin, Reverse
In addition to the Monkey privy mark, the Kookaburra coin depicts the bird on a fence post amidst an Australian landscape.

2016 Australian Kookaburra Silver Bullion Monkey Privy Coin, Obverse
2016 Australian Kookaburra Silver Bullion Monkey Privy Coin, Obverse

2016 Year of the Monkey Silver Bullion Lion Privy Coin, Reverse
Along with the Lion privy mark, the Lunar series coin depicts an adult monkey and a baby monkey sitting in a peach tree. The baby is holding a peach, which is symbolic of longevity and immortality. The Chinese character for ‘monkey’ appears above the design.

2016 Year of the Monkey Silver Bullion Lion Privy Coin, Obverse
2016 Year of the Monkey Silver Bullion Lion Privy Coin, Obverse

Edges of Australian 2016 Lion and Monkey Privy Mark Bullion Coins
The Australian 2016 Year of the Monkey coin has a larger diameter but is thinner than the 2016 Australian Kookaburra coin

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Joe

I can’t think of one privy mark coin the US Mint has made. Maybe the tlme is near.

Seth Riesling

Joe –

There is even a “Bigfoot” privy mark on a RCM bullion Maple Leaf silver coin being offered by their distributors now! How silly.

-NumisDudeTX