The worlds most chilled Koala mellows out on the Perth Mints latest antique silver coin

One of the main reasons for the current popularity of the two-ounce, high-relief, antique-finished coin was the huge popularity of the first in a new series by the Perth Mint called Greek Gods. Featuring Zeus, it’s easy to argue that this coin kicked off the whole current trend for ancient god coins in this and similar formats. It was certainly a good release for the Perth Mint with the three-coin Greek Gods series spawning two further trilogies, with a fourth, Norse Goddesses, due to kick off in a fortnight with Freya.

Last year, Perth took the format and for the first time applied it to its iconic repertoire of iconic Australian animals with what we described at the time as the best kangaroo design we’d seen on a coin, an opinion we still hold today. Zip forward to this year and the mint has followed it up with one depicting another of these unique animals, this time the Koala.

Struck in the familiar style of the gods coins, this is a rimless design and completely free of inscriptions. The obverse is the usual Australian one – an effigy of the Queen surrounded by all the necessary text. The reverse is the star here. An intricate and attractive mass of design elements comes together to form a hugely pleasing piece of art, Jennifer McKenna clearly in her element here as opposed to the restrictions placed on her for the Star Trek coins. We’ve seen some funny comments noting the ‘mellow’, perhaps stoned expression on the Koala’s face, but the end result is a beautiful coin. We’ve added an image we took of an actual coin in Berlin earlier this month and you can clearly see the real thing is every bit as good as the official images.

The coin is supplied in the usual Perth mint grey snapper box inside a themed shipper. The Kangaroo coin came in a latex ‘Nimbus’ style frame but we’ve heard reports of the coin moving in these and scuffing the latex, but whatever the reason, it’s changed. A certificate of authenticity is enclosed. The coin is available to buy now and most of our sponsors sell them. In addition Minted-UK is offering our readers 10% off all their Perth Mint stock with the coupon code KOALA which you enter at checkout.

2017 KOALA HIGH RELIEF SILVER COIN

MINTS DESCRIPTION

This spectacular 2oz silver high relief coin features the koala nestled in a tree. Each koala’s ‘home’ is made up of several trees called home trees. The area covered by these trees is known as the koala’s home range. Koala’s visit these same trees regularly. Each koala has its own home range, which overlaps those of other koalas. The size of each home range depends upon numerous factors including the quality of the habitat, and the gender, age, and social position of a koala in its population.

REVERSE: depicts an adult koala sleeping in a eucalyptus tree surrounded by gumnuts, gum leaves and gum blossoms. The design also includes The Perth Mint’s traditional ‘P’ mintmark. To capture the depth and detail of the design, the coin is struck in high relief to a rimless format and features an antique finish.OBVERSE:Each coin is issued as legal tender under the Australian Currency Act 1965 and features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the monetary denomination, and the 2017 year-date on its obverse.

PRESENTATION: Each coin is housed in a classic Perth Mint display case. It is presented in an illustrated shipper and accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

COIN OBVERSE AND SHIPPER BOX

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SPECIFICATION

NAME 2017 Koala HR
DENOMINATION $2 Australia
COMPOSITION 0.999 silver
WEIGHT 62.2 grams
DIAMETER 40.60 mm
FINISH Antique
MODIFICATIONS None
MINTAGE 3,000
BOX / COA Yes / Yes

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