Gold Spot: 1,948.00 | 0.0% |
Silver Spot: 23.59 | -1.1% |
Since its introduction in 1986, the striking 24-karat (99.99% pure gold) Australian Gold Kangaroo has been a perennial favorite of gold bullion investors. Unlimited mintage holds premiums to a minimum while the changing design keeps interest high and adds future value to series collectors.
The obverse of all legal tender coinage in the British Commonwealth must display the image of Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, which was rendered by Ian Rank-Broadley on the Gold Kangaroo. The coin’s namesake is portrayed on the reverse.
Each year, the one-ounce and the three fractional-weight Gold Kangaroos bear the same new design featuring the iconic marsupial. The exquisite detail of the design is enhanced by a stunning shadow effect, created by a process unique to the Perth Mint.
Despite the Gold Kangaroo’s success, Australia wasn’t satisfied with minting only standard coins. In 1991, the Perth Mint introduced the two-ounce and ten-ounce Gold Kangaroos in addition to the world’s first jumbo gold bullion coin in regular mintage. Weighing in at a full one kilogram (32 ounces troy), the Jumbo Kangaroo has a face value of AU$3,000. All three larger coins portray Australian-born Dr. Stuart Devlin’s classic ‘Red Kangaroo’ design every year and only the date is changed.
As impressive as the one-kilogram Gold Kangaroo was, however, the Perth Mint was already thinking a thousand times bigger.
In 2012, Australia unveiled the largest gold coin ever struck – a Kangaroo weighing a full metric ton (32,151 troy ounces or 1.1 US tons). The behemoth Kangaroo has a face value of AU$1,000,000 (over $783,000 US), and contains close to $40 million worth of pure gold.
Available in weights from 1/10 ounce (a 1/20-ounce coin was minted from 1990-2009) to one kilogram, the Australian Gold Kangaroo fills almost any need from a cache of readily exchangeable alternate currency to a sizeable gold reserve that can be easily handled and safely stored at minimal expense.