A bullion coin we missed last month, the third in the Perth Mint’s ‘Australian Nugget’ series showcases the 1931 find of Golden Eagle. The largest nugget ever found in Western Australia. it weighed in at 1,136 ounces (32.2 kg) and was 62 cm in length. Seventeen year old Jim Larcombe and his father must have been mightily pleased, especially as they’d already found a 2.7 kg nugget in a close location. They sold it to the local government, who promptly melted it down.

The coin is available in two formats. A one ounce 0.9999 gold and a one ounce 0.9999 silver. The former has a mintage of 30,000 pieces, while the latter is capped at 7,500 pieces, so these sit a bit above the tiny mintage market numbers (especially in gold). We’re not fans of this series, to be honest. They will be produced and struck to the same high standard you’d expect from the Perth Mint, and while the subject couldn’t possibly be more appropriate for a bullion series, it’s just such an aesthetically bland thing to showcase. I bet the artist chosen to do the design each year isn’t overjoyed at the prospect. There just isn’t much you can do with an amorphous blob of metal to make it look stylish, and with the market filled with some brilliant designs of late, it’s a tough sell. However, it’s Perth Mint bullion and available now.

LINKS: FIRST COIN IN THE SERIES