Perth Mint Gold Lunar Coins

Perth Mint Gold Lunar Coins

The Perth Mint's Australian Lunar series began in 1996 and devotes each year to one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Every design is struck for a single year and then retired, which gives the series a collectable dimension that most bullion coins lack while still trading on its 999.9 fine gold content. It is among the best known of the Australian gold coins.

The series runs in twelve year cycles. Series I covered 1996 to 2007, Series II ran from 2008 to 2019, and Series III began in 2020 and is due to complete in 2031. Each cycle revisits the same twelve animals with entirely new artwork, so a Year of the Dragon coin from Series III looks nothing like its Series I predecessor.

Like all investment grade gold, the Perth Mint gold Lunar is exempt from VAT, so the price you pay reflects the gold content and a small premium rather than being inflated by sales tax.

Perth Mint Gold Lunar Coin Specification

The Perth Mint gold Lunar is an Australian gold coin manufactured by the Perth Mint. Every coin in the series is struck in 999.9 fine gold and issued as Australian legal tender, a specification that has stayed the same across all three series.

Mintages and Collectability

Because each design is produced for one year only, Lunar coins behave differently from bullion series that repeat the same artwork indefinitely. The Perth Mint caps the mintage on several sizes, and once a year's allocation is struck no more are made, so earlier dates and the more popular animals can command a premium well above the gold price. The specification itself has never changed: every coin in the series is 999.9 fine gold and Australian legal tender, whichever year or series it comes from.

Denominations & Sizes

The Lunar series is produced across one of the widest size ranges of any bullion coin, from a twentieth of an ounce up to a full kilo. Face values run from 5 Australian dollars on the smallest coin to 3,000 dollars on the kilo, all nominal figures set below the gold value. Every size is struck to the same 999.9 purity, so the choice is simply how much gold you want in a single coin and the premium you pay for the smaller or more limited pieces.

Lunar Coins in Other Metals and from Other Mints

The Perth Mint strikes a silver Lunar series to the same twelve year cycle, which is considerably cheaper to collect than the gold. The Royal Mint also produces its own gold Lunar series, launched in 2014 with British designs on the same zodiac theme, so the two ranges are often compared by collectors following the lunar calendar.

Perth Mint Gold Lunar Price

Perth Mint Gold Lunar prices are derived from the value of the gold each coin contains. Each Perth Mint gold Lunar coin weighs 31.10 grams, and is struck to a purity of 24 carat, meaning it contains 31.10 grams of pure gold.

Perth Mint Gold Lunar prices can vary thanks to the coin's history and numismatic appeal, with certain years or designs being particularly desirable with collectors. The price of a new Perth Mint gold Lunar coin will typically be based on today's gold price, with a small premium to cover the cost of manufacturing and supply of the coin. Older or rare Perth Mint gold Lunar coins can cost considerably more than the UK gold price. With the global price of gold being primarily calculated in dollars, periods in which the pound is weak versus the dollar will see UK Perth Mint gold Lunar prices rise, while a strong pound would see lower prices in the UK.

Our Perth Mint gold Lunar prices are displayed in real-time, updating every two minutes in-line with the current gold spot price. The Perth Mint gold Lunar price shown includes fully insured delivery.

Perth Mint Gold Lunar Value

Investors often ask what is the value of a Perth Mint gold Lunar? Perth Mint gold Lunar coins have a face value of 100 Australian Dollars. It is important to note that the face value is a nominal amount that has no bearing on the actual value of the coin. As mentioned, the Perth Mint gold Lunar coin's main value can usually be worked out based on the current gold price. It is this simplicity that makes gold bullion coins appealing. They are bought and sold based on their intrinsic metal value without having to worry about any numismatic value and a more complicated selling process.

You can always find a simple benchmark value for a Perth Mint gold Lunar thanks to the publicly available spot price. The value of a Perth Mint gold Lunar is therefore generally the same regardless of the year and is just based on the metal content. Some years of Perth Mint gold Lunar might command a further premium. A lower mintage, or special design could see their value increase beyond their metal content.

The easiest way to work out a Perth Mint Gold Lunar value is to use its gold weight of 31.10 grams and multiply that by the current gold spot price in grams. As a coin with a purity of 999.9 fineness, it's important to calculate the 24 carat Perth Mint gold Lunar value, to ensure you have an accurate price.

How Much are Perth Mint Gold Lunar Coins Worth?

If you are wondering how much are Perth Mint Gold Lunar coins worth, a simple rule of thumb is that a Perth Mint gold Lunar has 31.10g of pure gold, or 1 troy ounce. If you see the gold price in troy ounces you can therefore work out how much a Perth Mint gold Lunar is worth quite quickly.