The Platinum Koala is an Australian

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

bullion coin A bullion coin (also known as a specie) is a coin struck from highly refined precious metal (bullion) and kept as a store of value or an investment rather than used in day-to-day commerce, or collectable, with numismatic value beyond that of its ...

minted by the Perth Mint between 1988 and 2008. The Platinum Koala is notionally

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 ...

, that is a legal means of payment (in Australia). On 18 June 1987, the Australian Government approved the minting of platinum and silver coins. This decision was made based on the success of gold coins issued a year earlier. The minting of the coin began in September 1988 in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. For marketing purposes, 2 ounce, 10 ounce and 1 kilogram coins of silver, gold and platinum were introduced in 1991; the 1 kg coins were the world's heaviest bullion coins at the time. The production of the Platinum Koala was stopped in 2000 due to a lack of a demand. In 2000, only 2,048 out of a total possible mintage of 100,000 were struck. The

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

depicts the Queen of Australia,

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. ...

, and the reverse contains an image of a

koala The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...

. The initials "JB" of the reverse face designer John Bergdahl are present on most coins. Other designers of the coin include Raphael Maklouf (1990, 1991, 1996, 1998), Miranda Cornell (1998) and Darryl Bellotti (2010). The annual series contain coins weighing from 1/20 ounce to 1 kilogram. The Platinum Koala never reached the popularity of the American Platinum Eagle, mostly because it has not been advertised in the US. Like most investment platinum coins, Platinum Koalas are sealed in a protective plastic case. The coins are sold at prices that reflect the current price of platinum, and not at the face value printed on the coin. Since November 1986, Perth Mint has used more than 18 tonnes of platinum for minting. About 85% of them were sold abroad making the Gold Corporation (owner of the Mint) one of Australia's top 30 export earners.

References

{{Reflist, 2 the face value of 1991 tenth oz platinum Koala is Fifteen Dollars. Bullion coins of Australia Platinum bullion coins

See also

References