Arrival: 2012 Year of the Dragon High Relief Silver Proof Coin

Yesterday, my 2012 Year of the Dragon High Relief Silver Proof Coin arrived from the Perth Mint.

These coins went on sale March 2, 2012 and carried a maximum mintage of 7,500 and ordering limit of one per household. The enthusiasm behind this release and overflow of comments were one of the motivations for starting this new blog focused on world coins. At the current time, the coins are no longer available for sale on the Perth Mint’s website.

The high relief Year of the Dragon coin is stunning and breathes new life into an already popular design. Pictured above is a side by side scan that I took of the regular one ounce proof coin and the high relief proof coin. I will also embed a video with more views of the coin at the end of this post.

Within the past two years, the Perth Mint has offered high relief Silver Kangaroo coins (the 2011 coin is still available here). I believe this is the first time they have offered one of the lunar series coins in high relief. This was a great extension and well timed to coincide with the most popular animal in the Chinese lunar calendar.

As a side note, some readers have been looking for mintage figures on past Perth Mint products. Their website provides bullion mintages and numismatic mintages at the linked pages.

Here is the video of the High Relief Dragon uploaded by Silvercoinsshow:

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Comments

  1. G says

    I got mine from Perth- question: will Downies bring the two more I ordered? No word from them

  2. Andrew says

    I can’t wait to receive mine. The Perth Mint currently shows my order status as “packed”.

  3. Ikaika says

    I also received my HR Dragon yesterday. I was able to catch the exact moment it went on sale and it took a little over a min to complete the purchase. Interestingly my Dragon is number 4XXX. But still worth every penny.

  4. Shutter says

    The Perth Mint currently shows my order status as “packed”.

    I think the term they use is “picked”. Usually that’s just a couple of days before “dispatched”, at which point you’d get an email with tracking number.

    Interestingly my Dragon is number 4XXX.

    Mine too. Guess it’s “1 of first 5,000 struck”. What’s more interesting is that the coin is listed on mint’s site as “Unavailable”, rather than “Sold Out”. The Berlin dragon is only now listed as sold out and had been unavailable for some time. Does that mean that they didn’t sell all of 7,500 coins, or could they decide to make more?

  5. says

    I received mine from Perth yesterday too…also #4xxx…a very impressive coin. It is also very thick…43% thicker that a 5 oz ATB (6.0mm vs 4.19mm)

    Downies…I ordered the HR Dragon at 10am on Friday, March 2 and thought “great”, I’ll have two of them….got an email from Downies on March 6 at 8pm saying “sorry, we had a web error…we had to cancel your order…but hey…you can take 5% off your next order…wow.

  6. Andrew says

    Shutter:

    From what I’ve observed, the Perth Mint utilizes a fairly detailed order tracking system. If memory serves correctly, my previous order statuses went through the following progression: Created>Approved>Picked>Packed>Dispatched.

    Considering I was 4 hours late to the party, I’m expecting a HR Dragon with a COA of at least 5000.

  7. Broooster says

    Mine showed up today, serial #4***, I also had my order in very early. Very happy with the coin, case is a little cheap I think, for the money, I feel it could have been of a better quality.

  8. says

    Mine also showed up today. I have to say, it is a magnificent piece. The dragon lends itself very well to the high relief format and the level of detail, especially when viewed with a magnifying glass or jeweler’s loupe, is pretty impressive. This is easily the best dragon product they’ve released in months.

    Incidentally, for folks who might be interested, we apparently will have a high relief kookaburra and a new high relief kangaroo coming this year in May. Perth seems like they are trying to ramp up their high-relief product line.

  9. Schalk says

    For those of you that did not have your Downies order cancelled – I am sure that you will get your coins. The only way to know that the coins are on their way is to check your credit card statement for the transaction. Downies only debit your card when they ship – no tracking is available from their website but you can call them and ask for a tracking number if you want it. Downies will be updating their website next month with a “new” look and, possibly, new customer account functionality.

    The Perth Mint’s “unavailable” status means that the coin is still available but just not from their website or via phone, i.e. catalogue orders and Perth Mint shop orders can still be placed – or are still in process.

  10. G says

    downies is a scam. I ordered from them the day before they put a limit on. I emailed multiple times. Three weeks later (today) I get an email from them:

    “I apologize for the late reply, unfortunately due to the Glitch in our system the ordered coin have not been placed on order for you.”

    I bet if the coin had not gone up in value since I ordered it, there wouldn’t have been a ‘glitch’.

    glitch? I had an order number, a confirmation code and everything. The ordered coin have not been placed on order for you? Just be honest: “we kept it”

  11. ultra-crepidarian says

    According to NGC 500 HR Dragon coins have been graded to date with 415 receiving a PR 70 UC grade. That is 83%. This is a surprisingly high percentage. MCM has the graded coin on sale now for $299.

  12. Samuel says

    Schalk,
    At what stage, they will assign you a customer number? I have been ordering more than $1500 in the past several weeks, and communicated with their customer service multiple times, no customer ID yet. So, how they track my order history? They did charge my credit card, and looks like they combined some of my orders and delete some items, I can’t tell from the credit card records.

  13. Schalk says

    Samuel,
    Ask them for your customer number the next time you call them. Do you get the Online newsletter from them? Your customer number will be on that email.

  14. says

    Samuel,

    You are correct, the HR dragon is Perth’s first HR Lunar. I recently did a post on all the silver high relief products that I know of which Perth has released (which was partially inspired by your comments on collecting all of Perth’s HR coins). They are the 2010-2011 kangaroos, the Sydney Cove coin, and the Marathon coin. This year they’ve released the high-relief dragon and seem like they are going to release a 2012 HR kangaroo and a 2012 HR kookaburra in May.

    I am willing to bet we might also see a 2012 high relief silver koala before long too.

  15. Samuel says

    Schalk,
    Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, the Customer Number field is “NA”. Will it be in the package?

  16. Samuel says

    Captain,
    Because of this HR dragon, I begin to collect the HR coins from Perthmint. I bought so far, 2011 Kangaroo, Marathon, Sydney Cove. I dont like the Koala and the bird one. The 2010 Kangaroo is a little big expensive now. So, I am watching. I have a feeling that, after this HR dragon, the HR coins on the market are going very fast.

  17. says

    Samuel,

    I mostly agree. I think the sales for the 2012 kookaburra are going to be very brisk as it’s a first issue for the kookaburra series. However, I’m not sure about the newer kangaroos. I bought a 2011 high-relief kangaroo along with my dragon, and the number on the box was in the 11K range (which indicates to me that they may have about 9,000 2011 kangaroos left to sell).

    So I hope Perth reduces the mintage for the 2012 kangaroo, otherwise it may languish for a long time on their website.

    If had to name the key coins to pick up, I would say the 2010 high relief kangaroo, and the high relief dragon.

  18. Samuel says

    Captain,
    The 2010 Kangaroo. not graded, is in the range of $200.
    I never paid attention to the bird.

  19. Samuel says

    Captain,
    What do you mean by:
    ” I think the sales for the 2012 kookaburra are going to be very brisk as it’s a first issue for the kookaburra series.”

    I saw many of them for previous years, right?

  20. says

    High relief kookaburras, yes. All the coins I referred to in my previous posts are the high-relief versions, sorry for any confusion.

    The first HR kookaburra is supposed to be coming this year, in May, I believe. I think sales of that coin will be hot because it’s a new addition to the kookaburra product line and the interest in high relief products caused by sales of the HR dragon.

    I’ve seen the prices for the 2010 kangaroo, Samuel. I’ve been looking for bargains on the coin but so far haven’t found any good ones. I would like to get my hands on it if I could. Maybe I will get lucky and find a decent price at Whitman next week.

  21. Samuel says

    Thanks. It seems Perthmint is trying their best to take money out of our pocket, which USmint, is trying to save us some.

  22. TheCoinKeeper says

    I like these high relief coins. Have the ’11 Kangaroo. The ’10 is more spendy now

  23. samuel says

    Schalk,
    That price must be a very old price, it cant even buy a 69 at APMEX(one of the first 1000).

  24. Shutter says

    I will have to give some consideration to it.

    Unless you though real quick, don’t bother. It’s gone now. Looks like you saved yourself another $200 clams. Interestingly, MCM is also flogging it on eBay for $280.

    FWIW, I like 2010 coin better than 2011.

  25. Schalk says

    Ok, out with it! Who is the guy that got lucky with that last 2010 Kangaroo at MCM? 🙂

  26. Samuel says

    Schalk,
    Did you really see it “in stock”?! or just a google result?

    If I remember correctly, I found that coin a while ago and it was out of stock at that time.

    MCM usually has a very high price. Those low prices must be sold out items long time ago. This applies to most of the coin dealers.

  27. Samuel says

    Downies must hate me very much! First, they asked for my passport/DL. Second, credit card declined their charge. Third, today, received the black dragon, they charged me $9.9 for TAX! What’s next?!

    Schalk, I found the customer ID on the packing slip.

  28. Schalk says

    Samuel,
    At the time I wrote that message the coin was available at MCM for $199.00. I don’t use Google to access MCM. To me, MCM prices are reasonable. Take for example the UHR Dragon now selling at Paradise Mint for $450.00+, MCM price is $299.00 for an ER. Don’t let that first 500 struck coins fool you – it adds no value in addition to ER.

  29. Schalk says

    A week ago, MCM had the COTY (Coin of the Year 2012) “Jonah in the Whale” proof silver coin, a PF70, for $299.00. There are only 8 of these coins graded at PF70. The coin is now for sale on eBay for $899.97 and the auction for a PF69 is already at $280.00 with 2.45 hours left.

  30. Schalk says

    As far as AMPEX is concerned. Prices are also reasonable at this Company and sometimes outright a bargain. Take for example the China Colored Year of the Rabbit 2011 – 1 oz coin – PCGS PR70 DCAM, for $249.00 right now. Compare that price to eBay and you will be surprised.

  31. Rolling Thunder says

    @ Schalk says:
    March 16, 2012 at 7:49 pm
    “A week ago, MCM had the COTY (Coin of the Year 2012) “Jonah in the Whale” proof silver coin, a PF70, for $299.00. There are only 8 of these coins graded at PF70. The coin is now for sale on eBay for $899.97 and the auction for a PF69 is already at $280.00 with 2.45 hours left.”

    I saw it on MCM and nearly bought it then – now Im kicking myself again for hesitating!

  32. Shutter says

    I can vouch for Schalk. I saw the HR Roo as available, and when checked again it was out of stock. It happens. They must have had a few of them, because OGPWORLD (part of MCM) is selling a bunch of OGP for them on eBay.

    WRT Jonah and the Whale, the time to buy these things is BEFORE they become “coin of the year”. I bought it @ APMEX in December when it was on sale for $92 in OGP. It’s gone now, but a couple of weeks ago they were trying to get $150 or so. They are now selling 3 silver coins from that series (including Jonah) for $350, or 3 Jonah coin set (includes ½ oz gold) for $1,700. If you like the design, not a bad deal. If you don’t, you’re too late to the party.

    Both MCM and APMEX have good prices sometimes. MCM is better for collectibles, while APMEX is better for investibles. MCM has better prices and selection on NGC slabs (duh!), while APMEX is better if you’re looking for PCGS. MCM is also very active on eBay. Both perform best when they are trying to clear inventory. In late December when silver dropped, I picked up a couple of eagle rolls for $28.80/oz and a stack of slabbed Glacier ATBs (MS69 DMPL) for same. They haven’t dropped that low since.

  33. Rolling Thunder says

    A little off topic here, but I know many have been questioning who mints the Mongolia Wildlife Protection Series (gulo gulo, ural owl, & hedgehog). It is Coin Invest Trust (a private company/mint) – you can download some nice images of the coins from their website – but don’t get your hopes up they do NOT sell retail.

    Also a number of other interesting world coin images.

  34. Hidalgo says

    Look y’all – having collected coins for years, you have to realize that you’re not always going to buy a coin that will appreciate significantly in value. Personally, I do not have the funds to buy every single that is on the marketplace. So I buy the coins I really want in my collection. Some appreciate significantly in value, others do not. But whether the value goes up or down, I will have a coin that I will always like.

    Investing or speculating in coins is risky. I can tell you that some coins I have purchased have significantly fallen in value. Much depends on what the “flavor of the month” is. Also, keep in mind that the value of many coins composed of PMs is based on the current value of the PM (gold, silver, etc.). If the current value of the PM goes up, more than likely your coin’s value will go up. Vice versa if the value goes down. Sure there are exceptions, but the general rule I just described applies to most coins made of PMs.

  35. Harry Baskins says

    This coin will be worth $1000+ in PF70 in a few months. Reminds me of the Chinese Unicorn coins from the mid-1990’s.

  36. Samuel says

    I placed an order at Talisman on Feb 2, got nothing from them yet. Called, no one answer. Anyone has the same experience?

  37. says

    Samuel,

    Some people in my seven-man group have had the same experience. One guy ordered a black dragon from them, and four guys (me included) ordered the Red Welsh dragons from them. I had to call them to change my credit card number. I placed the call during 12:30 EST on my lunch break if that helps you. I was lucky and received my coins after about two and a half weeks of waiting.

    As for the rest of my group, their Red Welshes began trickling in the last week of February and early March. The guy who ordered the black dragon has, last I heard, still not received his coin from them. I have advised him to call them.

    My advice to you would be to first email them. If in 24 hours you don’t receive a response, I’d try calling them once every hour until you get someone on the phone and try to pin them down on a date when they will ship your coin.

    May I ask what you bought from them?

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