Since 1986, The Australian Gold Nugget is a gold bullion coin minted by the Perth Mint, Australia’s oldest operating mint. The coins have been minted in denominations of 1/20 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, 1 oz, 2 oz, 10 oz, and 1 kg of 24 carat gold. They have legal tender status in Australia and are one of few legal tender bullion gold coins to change its design every year, another being the Chinese Gold Panda. This and their limited annual mintage may, unlike for many other bullion coins, raise their numismatic value over the value of gold used, which makes this coin more of a collectors item than a traditional investment.
These coins have two unique features: a “two-tone” frosted design effect, and individual hard plastic encapsulation of each coin. Two unusual for a standard bullion coins.
From 1986 to 1989, the reverse of these coins pictured various Australian gold nuggets. Thankfully, in 1989, a more world-recognized symbol of Australia was used and the design changed to feature different Kangaroos. The coins are today sometimes referred to as “gold kangaroos”. In 1991, 2 oz, 10 oz, and 1 kilogram sizes were introduced, which are some of the largest gold coins ever minted.
The Australian Gold Nugget coins are different from The Australian Lunar Gold Bullion coins, which are also minted by Perth Mint and have .9999 purity. The Lunar coins, however, use images of different animals from the Chinese calendar instead of the kangaroo.
