A number of new products go on sale today at the Perth Mint. This includes the next releases within the Australian Opal, Dragons of Legend, and Map Shaped Coin series. Additional products include the 2012 Australian Outback Silver Collection, a silver coin marking 40 years of friendship between China and Australia, coins for the FIFA World Cup Brazil, and the next Animal Athletes aluminum bronze $1 coin. Sales are slated to begin on August 6, 2012 at 12:01 PM ET.
These coins can all be found as the most recent entries within the recent releases section on the Perth Mint’s website.
The second release within the Australian Opal series features the Wombat. This series showcases nocturnal Australian animals created in pure Australian Opal. The first release, which featured the Koala, quickly sold out and currently commands a premium on the secondary market.
The Australian Opal Wombat Coin depicts a wombat within an inner panel of pure opal. The outer panel includes Bottlebrush leaves and blossoms, a waxing crescent moon, and the Southern Cross constellation.
Each coin contains 1 troy ounce of .999 fine silver struck in proof quality. The coins are housed in a display case with a light that turns on when the case is opened along with an illustrated shipper and a numbered certificate of authenticity. The mintage is limited to 8,000 coins, the same level as the previous release.
There is an initial ordering limit of one per member.
The third release within the Dragons of Legend series also premieres. This coin features St. George and the Dragon.
The Tuvalu legal tender coin features a colored portrait of Saint George as he is about to slay the dragon. The background contains an ancient landscape.
The coins are struck in 1 troy ounce of .999 fine silver to proof quality. The mintage is limited to 5,000 pieces. The previous releases featuring the Red Welsh Dragon and Chinese Dragon each sold out quickly.
The second coin within the Australian Map Shaped Coins series features the Emu, which is a large flightless bird. The Emu is pictured against the colored background of a bush scene.
Each coin contains 1 troy ounce of .999 fine silver and comes in a display case with illustrated shipper and numbered certificate of authenticity. The maximum mintage has been set at 6,000 pieces.
There is an initial ordering limit of one coin per member.
The Australian Outback Silver Collection includes three coins featuring the kookaburra, koala, and kangaroo in color. These are the designs that were used for the 2012 Australian Kookaburra and Koala silver bullion coins and the 2012 Australian Kangaroo gold bullion coins.
All three coins are struck in 1/2 ounce of .999 silver in specimen quality, with colored reverse designs. This appears to be a new product type with the three annual bullion designs brought together for a set of colored silver coins.
The three coin set comes in a display case with illustrated shipper and numbered certificate of authenticity. No more than 5,000 of the 1/2 oz three coin sets will be released worldwide.
There is an initial ordering limit of five sets per member.
Formal diplomatic relations between China and Australia were established on December 21, 1972. A silver coin has been issued to mark the 40th anniversary of the friendship between the two countries.
The reverse design of the coin features the animal emblem of each country, the kangaroo for Australia and the Giant Panda for China. The flags of each country appear above in color. The inscription “China and Australia 40 Years” appears in both English and Chinese with the anniversary dates “1972-2012″.
Each coin is struck in 1 troy ounce of .999 silver to specimen quality. The mintage is limited to 5,000 pieces.
Additional New Releases include:
- 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil 1/2 oz Silver Coin
- 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil 1/2 gram Gold Coin
- Animal Athletes Sailfish $1 Coin
These products should start to appear within the recent releases section on the Perth Mint’s website at the start of sales. This post will be updated with direct product links.
As a reminder, in the past some of the most popular releases have quickly changed status to “unavailable” after the initial rush of orders from US based customers. For previous months, sales have re-opened for some of these unavailable coins at 9:00 AM Perth Time (9:00 PM ET). This provides another opportunity to order for anyone who missed the initial availability.
Update: There are some additional new products released for the ANA World’s Fair of Money.
A change that I did notice is that free online shipping is available for orders greater that $400…
perthmint website is so slow.
Well, I picked up – from Talisman rather than the Perth Mint (ultimately cheaper):
1x Wombat Opal
1x ANA Colorized Koala (first apparently)
3x Outback Collection (these are 1/2 oz only, but the low mintage and nice designs should make this a winner)
1x Emu Map (bought the first so I might as well continue with the series)
1x Dragons of Legend – St. George (imho the best of the designs so far and very similar to the UK Gold Sovereign designs – well it should be!)
$877.60 for everything incl. delivery. Ouch…!
Yeah, the one time I was ready to buy three coins for the $300 threshold, they change the threshold. Story of my life. Their loss. I opted for the two coins that interested me the most: St George Dragon and the Wombat Opal.
I noticed their site was markedly slower with the interest in the new releases. However, still not as painful as that Other Mint website. On the upside, I still love their “time in queue” feature. That Other Mint could take a lesson.
I picked up the Wombat Opal and St. George and the Dragon from Talisman. I am not sure about the Outback collection or the Colorized Koala, they appear to be yet another offering from the Perth Mint with no engraving except a few letters with a color picture.
ordered 3x opal, 1 HR kangaroo and 1 map shaped from talisman. i have to say bye to perthmint. it seems they either think US buyers are moron or intentionally drive us to dealer. just hope talisman ships them not that late.
My order at Perth (3 St. George & 1 wombat) was is queue and when I checked back later, it did not go through…the St. George was not available.
So I ordered 1 St. George and 2 Wombat’s from Talisman.
The George sold out at Perth- that was quick (probably allocate a few more at midnight)
Steve
I had 2 ST George in the cart and when I logged in they deleted. Went back to reorder and they were unavailable. Sent them a note!!!
perthmint probably only has 10 dragons at their website in the beginning. dealers have plenty.
Wombat sold out from talisman!
A very busy release day today.
My friend and I made a combined order of two of the “silver colored” dragons and three of the St. George coins. St. George coins flew off the shelves, no surprise there. The silver colored dragon was a surprise. I guess they are planning to release every color from the ten-coin set. The blue one is coming later this month: http://blog.perthmint.com.au/2012/07/16/sydney-coin-show-special/
It will be interesting to see how well the Wombat and the Emu perform. I think the Perth Mint probably did not need to impose an ordering limit on the Wombat. I am inclined to think the Emu will go fairly quickly however. The map shaped coins seem to me like they will do well.
opal price is increased by $5, i bet talisman will release more very soon.
Did anyone see that Talisman has the 1 ounce silver proof Year of the Dragon available for $199. APMEX also has it available at $299.
I wonder why they both have these available again at the same time. It seems like $199 could be a pretty decent price – what do you guys think?
Nate, Gainesville had it for $180, not long ago.
Nate,
For the plain one ounce proof, $200 is actually not too bad. I typically see it for about $250-$300, so it could be indicative of the price coming down as interest in “dragon-mania” fades away.
A bit frustrating between Perth’s slowness and Talisman’s musical prices. One minute the Wombat is one price, then $30 higher, then sold out. I ended up getting most items from Perth and the St. George from Talisman.
It is interesting that the ANA dragon (white and blue) is the top seller at Perth given recent slower sales of dragons. It looks nicer than many of the other colored dragons. I think the Wombat and Emu coins will sell out soon.
Nate, if you can get a proof dragon for $200, go for it.
Talisman raised their price for the Wombat on ebay from $139.95 to $169.95
Dargon-mania is declining but not fading away. Everyone wants the DOL coins, and the ANA dragon, as I just mentioned, is doing well at Perth, so there is still some degree of interest. I was a bit unsure on whether to get the ANA dragon, but in the end I needed it for free shipping. Not happy about the $400 threshold either.
Schalk, Is there a difference in how the three outback color coins are produced compared to say Perth’s Titanic coin? I wasn’t sure what you meant about the engraving.
Talisman is out of St. George (a couple minutes after I placed my order!) and the Wombat.
Perth is putting out some nice coins but driving us to poverty!
@Shalk- I looked at the pics of the set again, and I see what you mean, but I still think it’s a neat set if you like Aussie animals.
Perth is putting out some nice coins but driving us to poverty!
This was a really big month for them release-wise. If money was not an issue, I think I’d have bought the two dragons, the emu, the opal, and the three-coin colorized set. I had not realized they were colorizing their non-Lunar “mainstay” coins – the kookaburra, the kangaroo, and the koala. It’s a very neat set and the price it’s being offered for is actually pretty good, all things considered (Coin Update did a writeup on it here: http://news.coinupdate.com/australian-outback-silver-collection-features-kookaburra-koala-and-kangaroo-1515/).
I think the three coin set might end up being a hit.
Louis, I think dragon-mania is running out of steam just for now, with the yellow dragon having lasted for quite some time past its initial release date. I expect values to start increasing again once the dragon coins are no longer being released and when they become more difficult to obtain.
I just received my 50 Years of Friendship: New Zealand and Samoa Silver Proof – what a stunning coin!
Hi Louis –
The Perth coins are more like specialty/commemorative items. They are not general circulation coins. What’s unusual is that these special coins have gained the interest of not only collectors, but flippers, speculators, etc.
I have seen a handful of these coins appreciate significantly. However, for the most part, the appreciation has been relatively mild (unlike some of the more rare general circulation coins with higher mintages, e.g., 1909 S VDB penny, 1955 double die cent, 1932 S Washington quarter, etc.).
Are these coins worth purchasing? Well it depends on what your intent is. I personally hold on to my coins. I guess there will be a time when I will some coins in my collection to make room for newer items….
If I consider the coins that I purchased in the past few years and sold all of them now, I probably would break even. Some coins have appreciated, others have fallen significantly in value. And so goes the collectible and precious metals market….
I just added 6 St George coins to my shopping cart at Perth and it accepted them. They seem to have plenty right now.
I too had a problem ordering St George this morning. By the time my 25 minutes in the queue elapsed, it was gone. Knowing that they will release more around this time I waited. Had no problem. They had over 200 when I placed the order, but now only 111. They’ll be gone soon.
I did notice a couple of other things. In addition to slow response (it was like sucking roadkill through a straw), The site crashed early on. Also, in the past, new coins appeared on the site slowly over the first hour. Today, all were there from the beginning.
Dargon-mania is declining but not fading away.
In addition to collectors and investors, dragon coins were being bought by folks that actually celebrate Chinese Zodiac. They’ve been buying these since last September and probably acquired all they need to give out as gifts for the rest of the year. Also there are just too many of them. Perth Mint put out more different dragons in the past year than all of US Olympic coins from 1983 to 2002.
Again, my order this morning did not go through.
However, at 9:20 EST my order for 3 St. George and 1 Wombat did go through. The Perth Mint is crazy in that you have to check checking all the time to see if coins are available. The same thing happened to me with with the Chinese DoL…about a day after is released and was “not available” it became available again and I bought 3 more…when $300 gave you free shipping.
The Perth Mint is crazy in that you have to check checking all the time to see if coins are available.
Whenever they release new coins, they make some available shortly after midnight and then some more 9 hours later (or so). On top of that, they make more available later sometimes much later. The 5oz DoL was gone after the first day then became available a couple of weeks ago. And now there is one sitting for sale now. The Chinese DoL has been pretty quiet lately, but still hasn’t changed to sold-out.
Next month should be pretty quiet. Only HR Koala is of any serious interest. Any ideas on the total mintage?
Shutter,
The koala will probably be about 10K like the HR kookaburra, if I had to guess. But did you forget the proof silver snakes, or are you not interested in them? http://www.perthmint.com.au/forthcoming-releases.aspx
Michael,
I don’t know if you’re still watching this thread, by any chance, but has Perth told you what happened to the Sydney Cove set? I tried running a search for it this evening, and it’s still missing on their site.
Overall, it is a bit of crazy system but it works pretty well at allowing people all over the world to get some low mintage coins and enabling Perth to make good money quickly. Plus it helps to have several major Perth distributors. I would have to say I prefer the availability changing a couple times to the price changing every couple minutes.
But did you forget the proof silver snakes, or are you not interested in them?
Didn’t forget. Just didn’t care. Long term, I think that dragons are the only ones that can sustain interest. I will still collect gilded lunar coins and anything else that strikes my fancy, like the baby dragon did. I don’t begrudge anyone else interest in snakes, horses, etc, I just can’t afford to buy every coin Perth mints.
The silver wombat is still for sale on the Perth Mint website. If anyone still wants to get their one coin, you can do so. Seems like it will be around until August 9th as Perth Mint regulates its sales….
@VAB- Forgot to mention earlier I agree with your comments. Enjoy your coins. I think Perth needs to start offering loans or layaway or something!
Thanks for the kind words, Louis. I tend to follow your and some others’ comments pretty closely. Always nice to know that there are some like-minded people out there.
Thanks, VABEACHBUM.
By the way, Samuel and others may be interested to know the ANA show Panda medals are now available for sale. I have a new article at Coin Week that explains how to order if you can’t get to Philly.
Louis, i am watching the situation. when the singapore medal was released with 2500 mintage after stopped for so many years, and i look back the 5oz medal historical performance, i feel like it. but, only several months later, there is this medal, then i need to think about it. i dont know how many shows ahead, but it seems they will release medal for every major show.
and, if u buy at the show, it will be $100 cheaper. i live in NJ, i m wondering if i should drive there and pick one in person.
Samuel,
Check out my article if you have time.
http://www.coinweek.com/modern-coins/the-coin-analyst-special-coins-and-medals-issued-to-mark-philadelphia-ana/
This is actually the first ANA Panda medal in over 20 years and past issues have done very well. That is of course not a guarantee, but if you can get there and get a 5 oz for $400, I would go for it. Even at $500 online I think it is worth it as much higher mintage 5 oz proof coins sell for about the same. These should have broader appeal than the Singapore at least in the US.
Well- talisman raised their price and Perth sold out of the wombat. I was trying to buy one last night and it kept saying that I couldn’t log in and to try back later- and now it’s sold. That hadn’t happened before. Some kind of glitch.
Louis – Just finished reading your article. Thanks for looking out for us, and for providing the link. I’m on a Panda America distro list that issued the advanced notice of the availability sometime early Monday. I picked up a 1 oz and a 5 oz ANA Medal via their website. And you’re right, still a bargain considering I’d spend at least $200 for the round trip – not to mention what else I might be tempted to buy while there!!!
Shortly after the release of the Singapore Medals, I picked up 1 each of those for similar pricing; touted as their “first coin show medal in 15 years.” I like both releases, and also agree that any return on either’s respective population is going to be long term. No worries; I can wait.
What I find interesting is that many people are trying to sell the 2012 30th Anniversary 50 Yuan Silver Coin, with three times the population (30K), for similar or higher pricing than either of the 5 oz Medals. Most Panda collectors don’t get caught up in the Coin vs. Medal stigma, so I’m anticipating a brief down-turn and buy opportunity for those 30th Anny 5 oz coins in the short term (at or below $500), before they also begin to realize justifiable gains.
G- Try Downies. I think the price is $125 plus $10 shipping. It will take a while because it has to go from Australia to CA to you, but it is probably the best option now.
VABEACHBUM- My pleasure and glad it was helpful. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the medals. The ANA medal will be my first Panda medal. I like the design of the Singapore medal too and may pick one up eventually. I think the best price on those is around $175 from MCM. I doubt there will be any other Panda coin show medals for 2012.
@ Michael Zielinski
It seems like the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil 1/2 gram Gold Coin is not available to US customers. Is this the case? Or it is not available yet for sale?
for 2012, you have the annual 5OZ panda, 30th anni panda, Singapore and ANA. the prices are:$400, 600, 700 and 500 respectively.
my thought abt the coin show panda medal is, even though it is rare and performed well for the old ones, and stopped for many year. the rcent increased mintage of silver panda and frequent releases of show medals, 2 this year, may change the situation. the old data might not be a valid reference for the new medals.
Samuel, I agree but the Singapore has only been out a few months and has gone up from the issue price, right? I think the ANA should do as well as the Singapore has done since the mintages are the same and both designs are excellent. Anyway, I just like them and someday when it comes time to sell, I think I will do fine.
Louis, the singapore one, i believe when it was released from pandaamerica, it was 500, then they increased it to 600, then that day when i decided to buy, they increased it again to 700, and since then it is still available. on ebay all the active ones are all “buy it now”. i watched one to the last second ended on 8/1, which is not BIN, the wining bid was $451. i feel it is trending down. just my feeling. and i heard there are many returns, and even die problems –”Die Varieties”.
Thanks, Sam. I was only planning to get the 1 oz Singapore but that is helpful to know.
Got 1 wombat and asked my bro to buy 1 for me. I should have mobilized the whole family early before it sold out. emu is better in color design than kooka, got 1 as well.
Thanks Louis- the tax bumps it up a bit for me from downies. I’ll just stick to the 1 ordered from talisman. This was a great month for coins- top 3 months for coins this year?
Wombat coin looks much better than the preview picture. Next up the for the Opal is the kangaroo series should be a hit. Hoping the previous coins in the series go up as the Series continues. To bad they don’t make a The Avengers Series. I would be in for an Iron Man coin.
Wes, how did you find out about the opal kangaroo? Opal kookaburra would be great.
Perth Mint site main page then click on Australian Opal Series at end of description it says
Forthcoming release: The Kangaroo.
Copied from article above by WMNB
The second release within the Australian Opal series features the Wombat. This series showcases nocturnal Australian animals created in pure Australian Opal. The first release, which featured the Koala, quickly sold out and currently commands a premium on the secondary market.
I didn’t realize the Kangaroo was nocturnal.
http://colonialacres.com/products.php?view=34862&ref=47
hurry!!
Samual…do these come in OGP?….thanks for the tip
i would assume so, since there is only 10K minted. and these were so hot when released last yr, and it was $65 release price.
i know the gilded dragon has capsule only ones.
i just checked the website, seems other coins include the packaging info, but this one doesnt. dont know why. i dont see a reason there is no OGP.
Thanks Samual…I think I will call them in the morning…47 remaining last I checked…but really, this is a good price even without OGP. Do you know
hw much shipping is?
Steve, shipping is $12 for 10 coins.
this deal showed up about 2 or 3 weeks ago for pre-ordering, when i knew it at that time, about 100 sold out in matter of seconds.
this thing goes fast. u may want to make a bet. the BU 1/2 is already about $23. so this is really a deal, or there is no reason to limit 10 per customer.
I just ordered 10. I can only hope these are really the proof coins incl. OGP rather than the bullion colorized 1/2 oz coins… 35 left!
I just called them and the coins will come without OGP or certificate, just in a capsule. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me…
no wonder they did not include the “packaging info” and picture on their website. tricky dealer.
Yeah, I just asked them to cancel my order and provide a full refund. It was all bit shady… These coins were released with OGP and CoA, so why not include these???
did they charge for cancelling?
i heard it is the 3rd largest dealer in CA.
called and cancelled mine as well. no restocking fee.
They changed the decription now – these are obviously not the proofs, but the BU ones. Just forget about it and move on!
they still have the “proof” in the description. the picture is also proof one.
@ Frankie They changed the decription to say with the plastic capsule. it still said proofs,but they are the BU’s right. thanks Frankie
Oh by the way has anybody’s order shipped from the new product’s. I just check mine on the perth site and it say’s shipped. My order went through at 12:20 that’s fast everyone have a great day.
Snake and more snakes coming in October. Including 2013 Year of the Snake 1oz Silver Proof High Relief Coin. That would make 5 HR coins released by Perth in 2012.
K bo – First opportunity to get on the net today. Just confirmed receipt of my Perth Dispatched Email w/ Fed Ex number and details. Not sure how their weekend ops will run in my area, but definitely should have my new coins by Monday!!
Shutter – Thanks for the new Lunar info. Definitely surprised that they’re jumping on the HR Snake so early. Have you seen any preliminiary indications of a design anywhere??
Shutter, Thanks for info.
My Perth order shipped too.
Off topic, but there is some big news (if it works out) on the US coin front. Bills have been intro. in the house and senate to re-create the 1915 Panama-Pacific sets!!! Will be expensive with all the gold so start saving now!
Have you seen any preliminiary indications of a design anywhere??
SilverLunar blog briefly posted it, but removed at Perth’s request. Dealers should have access to it. The rest of us will find out on Labor Day.
Shutter, thanks for informing us of the HR snake coming in October. Where are you finding out about these before everyone else??
Bills have been intro. in the house and senate to re-create the 1915 Panama-Pacific sets!!! Will be expensive with all the gold so start saving now!
Egads! That’s like $8,000 in melt alone. And if they decide to produce uncirc and proof, we’d have to spend what, $25,000 for the whole set?
Thanks for the tip on the HR, Shutter. I am surprised it’s being released so early. I figured we’d get the proof set, the typeset, and then the high relief sometime early next year.
Wonder if they’ve got any other surprise Snake products in the pipeline.
I figured we’d get the proof set, the typeset, and then the high relief sometime early next year.,/i>
I think type set is coming in October as well.
I wonder how many of you who ordered Wombat from Talismancoin will get it? Especially those who ordered more than one?
I have been cheated by them for #1 Opal and legend of dragon. Order was simply ignored, and NO communication either. Plenty of people got the same experience like mine
SYDNEY ANDA COIN SHOW SPECIAL – AUSTRALIAN LUNAR SERIES II – 2012 YEAR OF THE DRAGON 1OZ SILVER COLOURED EDITION
ON SALE NOW!!!!!
http://www.perthmint.com.au/catalogue/sydney-anda-coin-show-special-australian-lunar-series-ii-2012-year-of-the-dragon-1oz-silver-coloured-edition.aspx