Yahoo Finance Extremely rare Aussie coin worth $269,000: 'Highly sought after'
It's the eighth edition of the Perth Mint's Masterpieces series and features a diamond-encrusted turtle on one side.
The Perth Mint has added another coin to its Masterpieces collection and it's an absolute beauty. Only eight of these have been made and they'll set you back a whopping $269,000, even though it has a legal tender value of less than a tenth of that.
The Mint's Masterpieces Jewelled Series has featured a snake, a koi fish, and a horse, and this latest edition has a turtle. The eight coins are crafted from 10 ounces of 99.99 per cent pure gold and feature 113 rare Argyle Pink Diamonds, 57 natural white diamonds and two emeralds.
“The Perth Mint products continue to resonate with collectors worldwide,” the Perth Mint’s minted products general manager, Neil Vance, said.
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“We have been operating for 125 years and it is our constant commitment to craftsmanship, innovation, new finishes, quality packaging and limited mintages that makes our products highly sought after by numismatic connoisseurs year after year.”
This turtle coin is the seventh edition in the Masterpieces series but it's the first to feature the effigy of King Charles III as well as a sea creature as the main design.
Those lucky enough to get their hands on the special coin will get to see the jewel-encrusted turtle surrounded by depictions of coral and dory fish.
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“I was raised in Western Australia’s Kimberley Region, an extraordinary natural environment offering pristine white beaches and a translucent turquoise sea,” Natasha Muhl, who led The Perth Mint’s Jewelled Turtle design team, said.
“Six of the world’s seven species of sea turtles are found in Kimberley waters, and five of those are known to nest there so they really are special animals to me.
“The intricacy of the Jewelled Turtle reflects our constant pursuit of innovation.
“In this design we used hundreds of diamonds and gemstones to create the beautiful, sculpted body of the turtle.
“The finished piece is an extraordinary tribute to the beautiful, beloved and in many cultures, sacred sea creature.”
Special coin has an actual value much lower than purchasing price
While it will set you back more than a quarter of a million dollars to have one of these coins in your collection, it isn't worth much if you try to pay for your groceries with it.
The Masterpieces collection is legal tender, and this coin in particular has a monetary value of just $2,500.
If you ever wanted to part ways with a coin like this, you wouldn't go to a bank as they would give you that exact amount for it, which wouldn't be a great return on investment.
A shopper recently took a specially made $200 coin that was minted in 1983 to a Melbourne jeweller and received more than $1,000.
Micheli Jewellery owner Darren Harris explained to Yahoo Finance why the customer didn't just get a $200 cash bonus.
"If you took that coin into a bank, they would give you $200 because it's legal tender, that's the value of the coin to the bank," he said. "But we pay the value of the coin ... and those coins have probably gone up at least 30 per cent in the last five to six months because gold's gone up so much."
The customer received more than $1,000 in credit.
Because this turtle Masterpiece coin comes with beautiful jewels, it could be worth a lot more than $269,000 if you hold onto it long enough.
- with NCA Newswire
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