2019 Australian Gold Coins

The Perth Mint, or Australian Mint as it may also be called, was established in 1899 as a branch of Great Britain's Royal Mint. The mint was established to process the mountains of gold coming out of the Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie gold mines of Western Australia into bars and Gold Sovereigns. It is no small wonder that it is still known for its beautiful gold coins.

Kangaroo And Gold Nugget Series

Two of the most popular gold coins the Perth Mint produces are the Gold Nugget or Kangaroo series which started in 1986, and the Gold Lunar series which began ten years later. The Kangaroo series was initially known as the Gold Nugget series because of its depiction of a gold nugget. Because of the limited nature of a gold nugget theme, it was decided that a kangaroo was to replace it in order to refresh the coin design. Now, the series is normally referred to as the Kangaroo series.

The 2018 Kangaroo series features a kangaroo bounding toward its right in extra-pure .9999 fine gold on the 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, and 1/10 ounce coins. Meanwhile, the 1 kg Gold Kangaroo uses the original Stuart Devlin design of a red kangaroo bounding toward its left, framed by rays of brilliant sunlight.

Gold Lunar Coins

The Lunar series are based on the totems of the Chinese zodiac. The Chinese zodiac is a 12-year cycle which celebrates the animal sign of each year.

Background On The Chinese Zodiac

The Chinese new year typically falls between January 21st and February 20th. Of the twelve animals in the cycle, the Chinese calendar begins with the year of the rat, followed, in order, by the: ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.

While it might seem that a person’s zodiac year would be lucky, it is quite the contrary. A person’s zodiac year is said to be unlucky because they will have antagonized the god of Age, or Tai Sui. However, a possible counter to this is wearing something red given to one by an elder. This could deter any bad luck in a person’s zodiac year. Additionally, wearing jade accessories is believed to deter bad luck. Lastly, it is important to put Tai Sui behind you, literally. It is believed that the god of Age is a celestial body, roughly corresponding to Jupiter, that makes a full revolution around the earth every twelve years. If it is your zodiac year, it helps to face the opposite direction of Tai Sui’s position to Earth.

The Perth Mint offers bullion, proof and colorized versions of these series, as well as numerous other gold proof and collectible coins. Be sure to collect your 2018 Year of the Dog gold coins.