Australia's Perth Mint Milestone 125th Anniversary Celebrated With New Gold, Silver Proof & Bullion Coins

Opened on the 20th June 1899 at the height of the Western Australian gold rush, the Perth Mint was founded two years before Australia's own Federation in 1901. The Perth Mint, along with the now-defunct Sydney and Melbourne Mints was one of three Australian colonial branches of the United Kingdom's Royal Mint opened specifically to refine gold from the gold rushes. This metal was then intended for the production of gold sovereigns and half-sovereigns for use in both the British Empire and in Britain. In the 32 years up to 1931, the Perth Mint struck more than 106 million gold sovereigns, and nearly 735,000 half-sovereigns, the smaller denomination intermittently between 1900 and 1920. Aside from gold coinage, the Perth Mint was also authorised to vast quantities of Australian circulating coinage between 1940 and 1984. On the 1st July 1970, the Mint’s ownership was acquired from the Government of the United Kingdom by the state government of Western Australia, as a statutory authority.

Today, The Perth Mint is known for producing non-circulating legal tender NCLT coins for collectors and bullion coinage under an agreement with the Government of Australia. Since then, the Perth Mint became the world's only government-owned production facility with the sole purpose of a guaranteed precious metals enterprise. With their outstanding reputation for quality, craftsmanship, and efficiency, The Perth Mint returned to its original purpose as a maker of fine gold coins in 1986. By the year 2000, the Perth Mint's refined gold output totalled 4.5 thousand tonnes or, 9.9 million pounds in weight which represented 3.25% of the total weight of gold produced by humankind. This is about the current holdings of gold bullion in the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox. Visitors to Perth are invited to tour the parts of the building which is the original location opened in 1899 along with the grounds, retail shop and trading floor which is complementary.

The reverse design shared on the gold, platinum and silver coins is the work of Perth Mint artist Jennifer McKenna who combines three elements of the Perth Mint’s best known and admired numismatic coin series. The piece portrays a kangaroo, kookaburra, and koala which are each the focal subject of their own collector series. They are artistically arranged among a representation of golden wattle, Australia’s national floral emblem. The inscription 1899 THE PERTH MINT 2024 appears in a scroll at the foot of the design. Also included is a P125 anniversary mintmark placed to the left near the rim. The coins’ year of issue, weight and purity is seen above the primary design along the upper rim. The coin’s obverse depicts an effigy of HM King Charles III created by Dan Thorne along with the legend CHARLES III AUSTRALIA which is placed above the royal portrait. The denomination of 100 DOLLARS (gold and platinum) or 1 DOLLAR (silver)is placed below the likeness of the King. As a means of security, all coins incorporate an authentication feature on the reverse. In the form of a micro-laser engraved letter, it is only detectable under a magnifying glass.

Available from the 9th April, each bullion quality coin is presented in a protective acrylic capsule. The gold and silver proof strikes are presented in a custom-branded display case and accompanied with a numbered certificate of authenticity. For additional information, please visit the online webshop of the Perth Mint.