Today, Australian gold coinage is most commonly associated with the annual-release bullion coins of the Perth Mint. For those investors and collectors who regularly buy gold, Perth Mint Gold Kangaroos and Perth Mint Gold Lunar Series are a popular choice each year. However, there is gold for sale from the Australian continent that is not part of the aforementioned coin series. In some cases, this gold doesn’t even come from the Perth Mint or come in the form of coins.

Australia has a rich history of gold deposit discoveries. While the Perth Mint has led the way for more than a century as a refiner of Australian gold, the Royal Australian Mint also strikes commemorative bullion that investors covet. On this page, you can learn a little more about other Australian gold options available to purchase.

History of Gold Production in Australia

In the mid-1800s, gold was discovered in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in what was then the colony of Western Australia. Prospectors from across Australia and around the globe flocked to Western Australia to cash in on the deposits. The Perth Mint, for its part, opened in 1899 as the third branch of the Royal Mint of England on the continent due to the need for refining and coining all the gold discovered. Between 1899 and 1931 alone, the Perth Mint struck 106 million British Gold Sovereigns and 735,000 British Gold Half Sovereigns. Currently, the Perth Mint refines an average of 400 tonnes of gold annually.

In 1965, the Currency Act of 1965 was passed by parliament in Australia to establish a new sovereign mint for the nation. The Royal Mint had maintained control of the Perth Mint from 1902 until this point while Australia went through a federation process to earn its independence.

The Royal Australian Mint

Established with passage of the Currency Act of 1965, the Royal Australian Mint is the official sovereign mint of the Commonwealth of Australia. The nation had lacked an official, independent sovereign mint under its direct control from the start of its federation movement in 1902 until the 1960s. The Perth Mint and Melbourne Mint, both Royal Mint branch facilities, had served as local coining operations prior to the establishment of the Royal Australian Mint.

Located in Canberra, the federal capital city, the Royal Australian Mint is responsible for the production of circulation currency in the Australian dollar (AUD) denomination. It also produces a range of bullion collections for investors.

Other Perth Mint Gold Coins

The Perth Mint is famous for its annual-release gold bullion coins, such as the Gold Kangaroo and Gold Lunar collections. There are other Perth Mint gold coins available as well that are often issued to mark important occasions in national history. Additional collections include rectangular gold bullion coins, Myths & Legends Coins, and other offerings from Perth.

Perth Mint Gold Bars

The Perth Mint offers more than just gold coins. It also has gold bars for sale that feature its famous logo. The Perth Mint Gold Bars are available in weights ranging from 1 Gram on the diminutive side to the larger 10 oz gold bar. All gold bars from the Perth Mint feature .9999 pure gold content and are shipped inside of sealed assay packaging as an original purchase. The bars feature an obverse design with the Perth Mint logo at the top.

Arranged horizontally on the bar’s obverse face, the logo includes a swan in the center of a circle that reads “The Perth Mint – Australia” around it. Below that are engravings of the purity, metal content, and weight of the individual bar. The reverse side of the Perth Mint gold bars all include a repeating image of the mint’s logo.

Royal Australian Mint Gold Coins

The Royal Australian Mint was founded in 1965 as the new sovereign mint of the Commonwealth of Australia. Located in the federal capital city of Canberra, its primary mission is the issuance of circulation coinage and paper money for the federal government of Australia. However, it is also engaged in the production of gold coins for investors. Most popular among these is the Royal Australian Mint Gold Kangaroo Coin.

Unlike the Perth Mint Gold Kangaroos, the Royal Australian Mint Gold Kangaroo coinage features the same obverse and reverse design each year. The coins contain 1 Troy oz of .9999 pure gold and have a face value of $100 (AUD). On the obverse of all these coins is Queen Elizabeth II’s fourth-generation right-profile portrait created for the Royal Mint of England in 1998 by Ian Rank-Broadley.

The reverse side of Royal Australian Mint Gold Kangaroo coins features a design originally used on copper pennies issued in the mid-20^th century. Included in the design field is a red kangaroo leaping from right to left across the coin’s surface with a stippled border, the nation of issue engraved across the top, and the star of the Commonwealth below the kangaroo.

Royal Australian Mint Lunar Gold

Like many other mints, the Royal Australian Mint has its own range of lunar-themed gold coins available to investors. The coins in the Royal Australian Mint Lunar Series are available with new reverse designs for each date mark and comes in common, preferred gold bullion options of 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, and 1/10 oz gold. Many of the specimens are available at random. Though all coins are in protective capsules, we cannot guarantee in advance the date mark and accompanying reverse design you will receive. All items are chosen at random after your payment is processed.