2007 1oz Silver Bullion Australian Koala - Carded Coins

Introduction

In 2007 The Perth Mint introduced the new Australian Koala bullion coin program. The 1oz Silver Koala coins featured in this post were issued in the special carded packaging as part of a limited release of the coins to celebrate this iconic coin.

Mintage

The Australian Koala bullion coins are struck on a mint-to-order basis. For the inaugural year of this coin program 137,768 1oz Silver Koala bullion coins were minted.

Legal Tender

The coins are issued as Australian legal tender under the Australian Currency Act 1965. Technically you could walk into a bank in Australia and exchange the coin for the face value on the coin of One Australian Dollar.

Purity

The 1oz Silver Australian Koala bullion coin is guaranteed to be one troy ounce of pure (.999) silver.

Design

Reverse

The reverse design of the coin features a koala clinging to a tree branch with geometric angles and shapes in the background. The Australian Koala is often thought to be a cute cuddly bear, but in fact it is from the marsupial family of animals.

Obverse

The obverse design of the coin bears the Ian Rank Broadly effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Scarcity

Sourcing these carded versions of the Koala coin is quite a challenge these days. A lot of the collectors that have them tend to hold onto them very tightly. Every now and then you do get lucky like I did and you walk into a coin shop as the coins are being traded in. I knew straight away that I had to have them and was very fortunate to pick up this two carded 2007 coins for a modest premium. I have never even contemplated selling them.

I did a quick ebay search to look up the recent sold listings of these carded coins. I only found two listings:

• The first listing sold on 29 March 2021 for AU $85.00
  
  source

• The second listing sold on 10 February 2021 for AU $76.11
  
  source

These two sold prices are actually quite reasonable, because not so long ago you could not pick up these carded versions of the 2007 Koala coin for less than AU $90.00.

I also had a quick browse at the overseas listings on ebay. I could not find any listings of the carded version of the coin, but the sold listings I found of the bullion coin (without the card) were between AU $90.00 - AU $ 100.00 which is more in line with the prices I would expect to see them selling for.

Collection

These carded coins are part of what I like to refer to as my collection stack. My collection stack are the coins and bars sourced during my stacking career, that I am quite proud of. Either because they are a rare or scarce piece that I may never come across again, or because they have a certain sentimentality and story that accompanies them. These coins fit into both of those categories.

I get a lot of enjoyment out of stacking any sort of precious metals, but my collection stack provides a bit of extra enjoyment and satisfaction. I think it comes down to the challenge I had to go through to find the particular items and then the sheer thrill and reward of knowing that I now own them.

Investment or Hobby

I often ask myself if the items in my collection are still an investment or if they are more closely aligned to being a hobby.

After much thought and deliberation I have settled on the decision that they are still indeed an investment, but they are most likely the items that I would only sell or cash in as a very last resort, if life became very desperate indeed.

Conclusion

On that note it is time to conclude this post about the beautiful 1oz 2007 Australian Koala carded coins. I have really enjoyed writing this one and hopefully you all enjoy reading it as well.

I will now take these two coins and store them away safely again. It may be a few weeks, a few months or even a year before I get them out again to have a look at them, but I know when ever that time in the future may be that I will enjoy the experience as much as I enjoyed getting them out to photograph them for you all to enjoy.

Feedback

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments about these coins.

1. Do you like these coins or loathe them?
2. Do you like silver as an investment strategy?
3. Do you consider these particular cards coins an investment or more of a hobby?

Post authored by @strenue