One we missed last week, but has now come back in to stock, the Perth Mint’s new Kimberley Sunset 2oz pink gold high-relief coin is both a striking new piece, and a pricey one. Struck in 22kt pink (Rose) gold, which gets it colour from the inclusion of copper instead of silver in the gold alloy, it’s one of the mints famous high-relief designs.

The reverse and obverse are minted on concave surfaces which give Perth’s HR coins a superb look, one that’s used to great effect with special editions of their main bullion coins. In nearly every case, the HR version is the best looking issue of a design, a particular case in point being the beautiful John Mercanti designed Wedge-tailed Eagle.

This coin is a custom piece however, done just for this issue and it depicts an iconic Baobab tree set against a Kimberley sunset. The reason for the Kimberley connection lies in the pink diamond inset into the reverse side of the coin itself. Formed around 1.6 billion years ago, these pink-hued diamonds are very rare and highly sought after around the world. Rio Tinto has been mining here since 1983 and uncovered a staggering 800 million carats in the 30 years since. Although Kimberley diamonds are typically quite small, naturally coloured diamonds including white, champagne, cognac and blue are found in quantity, but the rarest of them all are the pink Argyle ones as embedded in this new coin.

Limited to only 500 examples, sensibly given the circa $9,000 price-tag, it’s a highly attractive piece with reverse-side artwork by Perth Mint regular, Tom Vaughan, designer of the smash-hit Gods of Olympus series. The packaging is clever and good-looking as befits the price, and demand is, by all accounts, strong. Certainly a pretty unique piece, and given the demand for blinged up cars and iPads we see on reality tv shows, we don’t doubt a blinged up coin will sell quickly as well.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

Beneath the ancient boab trees in the heart of the East Kimberley in Western Australia’s far north, the world’s rarest diamonds were formed more than a billion years ago. Argyle pink diamonds are a true Australian treasure, limited by nature and highly sought after by collectors and connoisseurs. Each of the Kimberley Sunset coins incorporates a superbly hand set Argyle pink diamond.

Struck by The Perth Mint from 22-carat (91.67%) pink gold in proof quality, the coin contains 2oz of pure gold and an Argyle pink diamond of between 0.035 and 0.040 carats. The Perth Mint will issue no more than 440 of the Kimberley Sunset 2015 2oz Pink Gold Proof High Relief Coin in this packaging, from a maximum mintage of 500.

REVERSE: The coin’s reverse depicts a boab tree amid a Kimberley landscape at sunset. An Argyle pink diamond embedded near the horizon represents the setting sun. The design includes the inscription KIMBERLEY SUNSET, the 2015 year-date, and The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark.

OBVERSE: Issued as Australian legal tender under the Australian Currency Act 1965, the coin’s obverse depicts the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the monetary denomination.

PACKAGING: Each coin is housed in a black designer case, and is accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity.