2009 Australian Koala - Silver and Gold

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Introduction

Today's featured coin is the 2009 Australian Koala coin struck by The Perth Mint. I decided to display the silver and gold Koala coin designs in this post. My previous posts have been mostly focused on silver, but today you get to enjoy quality silver and gold coin designs.

As you can see, both the silver and gold coins share the same koala design for 2009. The silver coins differs slightly as it has the textured geometric background that is distinctive for the early silver koala coin designs.

Silver Bullion Mintage

The koala bullion coins are 'mint to order', the amount 336,757 1oz coins were issued in 2009. The coin was issued as legal tender under the authority of Australia with a denomination of one dollar.

The other bullion coin sizes issued in 2009 were the 1/2oz, 10oz and the 1kg coins. The image at the top of the post shows their relative sizes, it really shows just how much larger the 1kg coin is in comparison to the other sizes. The table below shows the maximum mintage and declared mintage totals for each coin.

Year Denomination Description Maximum Mintage Declared Mintage
2009 $30 1kg Bullion Koala Coin 2009 mint to order 34,947
2009 $10 10oz Bullion Koala Coin 2009 mint to order 6,556
2009 $1 1oz Bullion Koala Coin 2009 mint to order 336,757
2009 50c 1/2oz Bullion Koala Coin 2009 mint to order 15,334

Coin Purity

From the year 2007 until the 2018 edition the coins were .999 fine silver, the recent editions of the coins have increased their purity to .9999 silver.

1oz Silver Coin Details

Mint/Brand: The Perth Mint
Silver Content: 1 Troy Ounce
Purity: .999 Fine Silver
Denomination: $1 (Australian)
Year of Issue: 2009
Edge: Milled
Weight: 31.135g
Diameter: 40.60mm
Thickness: 2.98mm
Maximum Mintage: mint to order
Declared Mintage: 336,757

Design

1oz Silver Bullion Coin

The reverse of the coin depicts an adult Koala sitting on a tree branch, with the distinctive textured geometric background. It also features the well-known ‘P’ mintmark of The Perth Mint.

The obverse of the coin portrays the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the denomination of Australian 1 Dollar.

1kg Silver Bullion Coin

The reverse of the coin depicts an adult Koala sitting on a tree branch. It also features the well-known ‘P’ mintmark of The Perth Mint.

Interestingly, you will notice that the background of the 1kg coin has a smooth finish and is missing the textured geometric background of the smaller versions of the 2009 Koala coins. A number of koala collectors were disappointed that the 1kg design omitted the textured background, perhaps it was too tricky to have the textured detail on such a large coin.

The obverse of the coin portrays the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the denomination of Australian 30 Dollars.

1oz Silver Gilded Coin

The reverse of the gilded coin depicts the same 2009 adult Koala sitting on a tree branch, with the distinctive textured geometric background. The koala is gilded in 99.99% pure gold. It also features the well-known ‘P’ mintmark of The Perth Mint.

The obverse of the coin portrays the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the denomination of Australian 1 Dollar.

The 2009 Australian Koala Gilded coin comes in a claim shell display case, a blue illustrated outer box with koala photo and an accompanying certificate of authenticity. No more than 10,000 gilded coins were released with the display case, certificate of authenticity and outer box packaging.
Gilded coins, like the privy coins, are quite polarising among the collector and stacker community. I personally think the coins are beautiful to look at, as the gold gilding really does accentuate the design. That being said, I do not often buy gilded coins as I find the premium you pay for the gilding is quite high and they do not seem to hold that premium in the secondary market. I have bought a few for my collection, but I have always picked them up for well below their original issue price.

Gold Proof Coins

The reverse of the gold proof coin design depicts the same 2009 adult Koala sitting on a tree branch, with a high quality mirror finish as the background of the coin. It also features the well-known ‘P’ mintmark of The Perth Mint. The gold proof coin sizes issued in 2009 were the 2oz, 1oz, 1/10oz and 1/25oz of 99.99% pure gold in proof quality.

The obverse of the coin portrays the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the denomination of the 1/10oz coin was Australian 15 Dollars and the the denomination of the 1oz coin was Australian 100 Dollars.

The 2009 Australian Koala Gold Proof coin comes in a claim shell display case, a green illustrated outer box with koala photo and an accompanying certificate of authenticity.

The maximum mintages were extremely limited for the Gold Proof coins:

  • 250 for the 2oz coins
  • 2,000 for the 1oz coins
  • 5,000 for the 1/10oz coins
  • 15,000 for the 1/25oz coins

Coin Purchase Quantity

The Australian Koala 1oz silver coins are sold as single coins, in sealed rolls of twenty 1oz coins or you can purchase a 100oz box that includes fives sealed rolls of twenty 1oz coins. The advantage of buying in higher quantities is that the bullion dealers offer volume breaks or discounts the more coins you buy.

Coin Protection

Each 1oz Silver Koala coins is stored in their original mint plastic capsules. It is highly recommended that you keep your silver bullion coins in their capsules to prevent tarnishing of the coin. If the original plastic capsule gets scratched, damaged or cracks, you can buy new plastic capsules from your trusted bullion dealer.

When handling your 1oz Silver Koala coins, for extra protection use a pair of cotton gloves. Cotton gloves protect your silver coins from oils in your fingers that may cause discoloration, damaging the coin's finish. I have formed the habit to use cotton gloves even when I am handling silver coins in their plastic capsules.

Post authored by @strenue


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You received an upvote of 80% from Precious the Silver Mermaid!

Thank you for contributing more great content to the #SilverGoldStackers tag.
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