Royal Australian Mint commemorates Captain Cooks voyage with a domed gold coin

It’s 250 years since Captain Cook set off on his famous voyage to the South Ppacific during which he landed on Australia. With several mints in Australia, it’s obvious an event like that would get marked with some fine numismatics and we’ve already had a great three-coin set from Downies to enjoy. The Royal Australian Mint are joining the celebrations with a high-end gold release.

Starting a few years ago, the RAM started a programme of domed silver coins depicting the night skies and they proved exceptionally popular. The Southern Sky and Northern Sky series were both wrapped up with a single one-ounce gold domed coin, and it’s back to this format that the mint has returned for its latest Cook effort.

Based on an 18th-century map of Cooks voyage to map the Southern Hemisphere, the concave reverse face depicts his voyage in fine detail surrounded by a border inscribing the coin title. The obverse is a standard Australian one – carrying the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank Broadley. Packaged in a decent looking wooden box and with a certificate of authenticity, just 750 examples will be struck and they will sell for $2’795.00 AUD. A nice, if pricey release, it’s available now from the Royal Australian Mint website.

SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION $100 Australia
COMPOSITION 0.9999 gold
WEIGHT 31.1 grams
DIAMETER 38.51 mm
FINISH Proof
MODIFICATIONS Domed strike
MINTAGE 750
BOX / COA Yes / Yes