Australian Silver Kookaburra

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Silver Kookaburra
Australia
Value1 Dollar (face value)
Mass31.1 g (1.0  troy oz)
Diameter40.6 mm (1.52 in)
Thickness2.98 mm (0.117 in)
EdgeReeded slanted left
Composition99.99% Ag
Years of minting1990-present
Obverse
Australia kookaburra 2019 obverse.png
DesignQueen Elizabeth II
DesignerJody Clark
Design date2015
Reverse
Australia kookaburra 2019 reverse.png
DesignA kookaburra at sunset
DesignerAleysha Howart
Design date2018

The Silver Kookaburra is a silver bullion coin originating from Australia, and produced at the Perth Mint starting in 1990. The coins were .999 fine silver until the 2018 edition, which increased in purity to .9999 silver. While the obverse of the coin always depicts the reigning monarch--Queen Elizabeth II during her reign and now features King Charles III, 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. They are minted in four sizes; 1,000 g, 10, 2 and 1 troy ounces.

Contents

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the kookaburra coin, the 2015 coin features 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 had a release date of September 1, 2014. [1]

Specifications

Specifications [2]
Weight
(troy oz)
Weight
(grams)
Face ValueDiameter
(mm)
Thickness
(mm)
1,002.5 AU$3010114.6
10312.35AU$1075.58.7
262.77AU$250.34.5
131.135AU$140.64

One Ounce History

The maximum mintage of the one troy ounce coin is capped, while the others have unlimited mintage, based on demand. Perth Mint originally intended to expand the 2013 mintage to one million coins, however, they later reduced this number to 500,000 and declared that future years would continue to be limited to this amount. [3] In addition to the annual design change, there is also a design change between the bullion and proof versions of the coin each year. No proof coins were minted between 2006 and 2011; however, there was a 1-ounce silver proof Kookaburra colored coin struck in 2012 for the Discover Australia coin series. [4] Since 2012, the proof coin has been struck in high relief only.

Special editions such as privy marked, colored and gilded are often available. [5]

Mintages for
standard bullion and proof coins
YearBullion mintage [6] Proof mintage [7]
1990300,00021,671
19916,673
1992219,6946,766
1993190,5815,121
1994174,5612,500
1995154,2473,000
1996170,1053,500
1997159,4972,466
1998103,1192,114
1999109,3641,646
2000104,1692,583
2001169,2653,241
200291,6041,733
2003109,4391,571
200484,4551,446
200595,1452,346
200687,044-
2007213,436-
2008300,000-
2009-
2010-
2011500,000-
201210,000
20135,378
20142,550
20158,000
20162,401
2017406,2652,845
2018243,7401,935
2019219,660
2020375,914
2021266,676
Mintages for privy marked and special releases [8] [9]
YearPrivy MarkParticularityMintage
1992EagleProof coins only750
1993 Sydney Opera House 15,000
1994 Team Australia — Commonwealth Games
1995 Giant panda Gilded privy10,000
199615,000
Tricentennial naming of the Swan River 5,000
Eiffel Tower (France)
Brandenburg Gate (Germany)
Tower Bridge (Great Britain)
Colossus of Rhodes (Greece)
The Hague (Netherlands)
Goya's La Maja desnuda Gilded privy2,500
Basler stab
Date on edge of coinDate and serial number1,500
1997DragonGilded privy20,000
Phoenix
Panda15,000
Little Mermaid (Denmark)5,000
Elk (Finland)
Roman Colosseum (Italy)
Windmill (Netherlands)
Monument of the Discoveries (Portugal)
Utrecht Coat of Arms2,500
Zurich Coat of Arms
Japanese Golden Yen Gilded privy
Thomas Edison
1998 St. Stephen's Cathedral (Austria)5,000
Celtic harp (Ireland)
Robert Schuman Building (Luxembourg)
Alhambra palace (Spain)
Vasa warship (Sweden)
19991999 Australian Gold Sovereign coinGilded privy
Austrian 20 Schillings
Belgian 50 Francs
Finnish 1 Markka
French 5 Francs
German 1 Mark
Irish 1 Punt
Italian 1,000 Lire
Luxembourg 50 Francs
Dutch 1 Gulden
Portuguese 50 Escudos
Spanish 100 Pesetas
Australian 1919 square penny3,500
16th century Japanese Koban coinGilded privy2,500
2001 Commonwealth Star 10,000
Santa Claus Colored privy1,000
2002 US Flag 18,496
2004Gilded kookaburras10,000
2005 Western zodiac (12 coins total)5,000
(for each month)
2007Gilded kookaburra10,000
2012 Lunar dragon 64,989
2013 Lunar snake 50,000
Fabulous 157,600
2014 Lunar horse 50,000
Fabulous 157,000
2015 Lunar goat 50,000
Fabulous 157,350
2016 Lunar monkey 50,000
Fabulous 155,252
2017 Lunar rooster 50,000
Panda8,000
Shark31,482
2018 Lunar dog 50,000
Panda8,000
Fabulous 154,805

See also

References

General
Specific
  1. "Unveiled - The 2015 Australian Bullion Coin Program". Perth Mint Bullion Blog. 13 August 2014. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  2. "Kookaburra". bullionweb.de. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  3. Currie, Ron (30 April 2013). "1oz Australian Kookaburra Mintage Declared At 500,000". Perth Mint Bullion Blog. Retrieved 16 May 2014. ...the mintage of this year's release has been declared at 500,000. For consistency going forward, ... the maximum mintage of 500,000 will be applied to all future 1oz Kookaburra releases.
  4. "1 Dollar - Elizabeth II, Australia". en.numista.com. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  5. "Everything You Need To Know About Kookaburra Silver Coins (2023 Update) | Silver Bullion". www.silverbullion.com.sg. 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  6. "The Australian Kookaburra Silver Bullion Coin Series" (PDF). Perth Mint. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  7. "Collector Coin Mintages". Perth Mint. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  8. "Australian Silver Bullion Privy Coin" (PDF). Perth Mint. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  9. "Silver Kookaburra - Privy Mark". bullionweb.de. Retrieved 21 February 2020.