Historic gold mint releases new coins

Australia’s largest gold and silver mint is celebrating its 125th anniversary with the release of five special coins, each imprinted with an image of King Charles III and one with an extremely limited mintage of just 500.

The Perth Mint will release two pure gold coins, two pure silver coins and a coin of pure platinum, all with King Charles on one side and a P125 mintmark on the other.

The coins also feature a kangaroo, koala and kookaburra.

The mint, which is wholly owned by the West Australian government, serves as a gold refiner and manufacturer, and delivers premium precious metals products to markets around the world.

It opened its doors for the first time on June 20, 1899 as a branch of Britain’s Royal Mint at the height of WA’s gold rush, the mint’s website states, and remains Australia’s oldest operating mint.

Perth Mint chief executive Paul Graham said the anniversary coins reflected the mint’s “richness” of craftsmanship.

“We are proud to be releasing these 125th anniversary coins to allow Western Australians and the broader public to join us in celebrating this unique and tradition-rich organisation,” he said.

“Throughout the ups and downs of the gold cycle and the evolution of the Mint over the past 125 years, we have maintained an unwavering focus on supporting the gold mining sector and producing high quality precious metals coins and minted products.”

The five coins are:

• a 1oz Gold Bullion Coin, made of 99.99 per cent pure gold with a limited mintage of 25,000, priced at $3744.93;

• a 1oz Gold Proof Coin, made of 99.99 per cent pure gold with a mintage of just 500, priced at $5299;

• a 1oz Silver Bullion Coin, made of 99.99 per cent pure silver with a mintage of 150,000, priced at $52.50;

• a 1oz Silver Proof Coin made of 99.99 per cent pure silver and a mintage of 7,500, priced at $140; and

• a 1oz Platinum Bullion Coin made of 99 per cent pure platinum with a mintage of 5000, priced at $1624.27.