The eighth release in their third passage through the twelve animals that make up the Chinese lunar calendar, the Perth Mint has issued their much anticipated 2027 Year of the Goat bullion range. When it launched in 2020 with the mouse design, Lunar Series III immediately impressed us with its new focus on realistic portrayals of the animals (except the dragon, of course…), and it hasn’t disappointed since, even though different artists have worked on it over time.

The gold and silver mouse designs, which are different to each other, were both created by one of the mint’s regular artists, Ing Ing Jong, who has also produced many others since. For the Year of the Goat, we have Natasha Muhl doing the silver coin, and Wade Robinson handling the gold. Despite that, they clearly belong as a pair. The silver coin has a charming family scene in a natural setting with a plum blossom tree to the right. The gold features a dominant male surveying the landscape around him, with a similar layout of rocks to the left and a tree to the right. The obverse features the usual Dan Thorne effigy of King Charles III, along with the inscribed issue details.

As you would expect, the range is quite extensive. Silver comes in five formats, from one-kilo down to half-ounce, and there’s a gigantic ten-kilo coin yet to come. Those are impressive in hand, if hugely expensive with the current price of silver. Gold has even more choice, with seven sizes from ten ounces, down to a twentieth of an ounce. Finally, there’s platinum, with a solitary one-ounce coin. However, last year saw the addition of a tenth-ounce platinum coin to the range, and while we do have an obverse image for it, it isn’t mentioned in the press pack, or on the Perth Mint site. That one remains unknown at present. The platinum coin employs the gold design.

As before, most formats have an unlimited mintage, with numbers open until the end of a 12-month period. The most sought after coins have always been the 1oz gold and the 1oz silver, which have strictly limited mintages of 30,000 pieces, and 300,000 pieces respectively. Overall, an excellent addition to what is one of the best lunar bullion ranges around. I really must get one of our bullion profiles together soon.