The Australian Gold Nugget, also sometimes known as the Australian Gold Kangaroo, is a gold bullion coin minted by the

Perth Mint The Perth Mint is Australia's official bullion mint and wholly owned by the Government of Western Australia. Established on 20 June 1899, two years before Australia's Federation in 1901, the Perth Mint was the last of three Australian colonia ...

. The coins have been minted in denominations of oz, oz, oz, oz, 1 oz, 2 oz, 10 oz, and 1 kg of 24 carat gold. They have

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that Standard of deferred payment, courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment in court for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything ...

status in Australia—though worth far more as bullion than their face value—and are one of few legal tender bullion gold coins to change their design every year, another being the

Chinese Gold Panda The Chinese Gold Panda () is a series of gold bullion coins issued by the People's Republic of China. The Official Mint of the People's Republic of China introduced the panda gold bullion coins in 1982. The panda design changes every year (with ...

. This may raise their

numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

value over the value of gold used, unlike many other bullion coins.

History

The Gold Nugget series was introduced in 1986 by

Gold Corporation Gold Corporation is an Australian company owned by the Government of Western Australia, established by the Gold Corporation Act 1987, with a mandate to operate the Perth Mint, market Australian gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemic ...

, a company wholly owned by the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...

, more commonly known by its trading name The Perth Mint. This issue of coins had two unique features: a "two-tone" frosted design effect, and individual hard plastic encapsulation of each coin. These features were unusual for a standard bullion coin and gave the Nugget a unique market niche. From 1986 to 1989, the reverse of these coins pictured various Australian gold nuggets. For example, the

Welcome Stranger Welcome Stranger is the name of the largest alluvial gold nugget ever discovered. It was unearthed by Cornwall, Cornish miners John Deason and Richard Oates on 5February 1869 in Moliagul, 9 miles north-west of Dunolly, Victoria, Dunolly in Vi ...

nugget was depicted on the 1987 1 oz Australian Nugget coin while the oz Australian Nugget coin of the same year showed the

Hand of Faith The Hand of Faith is a gold nugget of fine-quality that was found by Kevin Hillier using a metal detector near Kingower, Victoria, Australia on 26 September 1980. Weighing 875 troy ounces (ozt; 27.21 kg, or 72 troy pounds and 11 troy ounce ...

nugget. With the 1989 proof edition, the design was changed to feature different kangaroos, a more world-recognised symbol of Australia. The coins are today sometimes referred to as "gold kangaroos". In 1991, 2 oz, 10 oz, and 1 kilogram sizes were introduced. These were created with the intention of using

economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of Productivity, output produced per unit of cost (production cost). A decrease in ...

to keep premiums low, and are some of the largest gold coins ever minted. In 1992, the face values on these large coins were lowered to keep them proportional to the 1 oz coin. The reverse of these coins does not change annually like the lower denominations; the same "red kangaroo" design is used every year. In October 2011, the Perth Mint created a one tonne gold coin, breaking the record for the biggest and most valuable gold coin, previously held by the

Royal Canadian Mint The Royal Canadian Mint () is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under an act of parliament referred to as the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The mi ...

, the

Big Maple Leaf The Big Maple Leaf (BML) is a $1 million ( CAD) gold coin weighing (3,215 troy ounces). A set of five of these coins was produced by the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) in 2007, at their Ottawa facility where the first BML produced remains in storage. ...

. The coin is approximately in diameter and thick. It features a red kangaroo on the front of the coin and a portrait of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

on the reverse. The face value of the coin is 1 million, but at the time of minting it was valued at over 53 million. 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.

Specifications

References

{{Reflist Bullion coins of Australia Gold bullion coins

History

Specifications

See also

References