Olympic Coins Lead The Pack of April Releases
As another month arrives, so does a new range of new coin releases to wonder at.
The world is currently in a remarkable situation, the likes of which none of us have experienced before. Thankfully, that hasn’t stopped The Royal Australian Mint or The Perth Mint from going ahead with their planned releases.
In fact, whilst the Olympic Games have been pushed back to 2021, RAM has decided to go ahead with their release of the first Olympic coins this month. It’s been confirmed that whilst the Tokyo Games will now be held in 2021, it will still be formally referred to as the 2020 Olympics. As such, all merchandise, including coins, will remain with the 2020 date on them, thus sparing these coins (undoubtedly minted ahead of time) from being melted down.
There are three coins announced at this point, two colour frosted $1 coins, one each for the Olympic and Paralympic games. Each features an ‘ambassador’ from the Australian representatives. These coins are unlimited, and come mounted on fantastic matching card designs. Additionally, there is a 50c release, which intriguingly is both a round 50c design AND gold plated. Not a common combination by any means, and limited to 20,000. This design celebrates the Australian Olympic Team as a whole, and again comes on a card with a nifty modern design.
We’ll be listing some of these in the store very shortly – so stay tuned.
Next up is a new set of silver proof coins, celebrating some of the most dangerous wildlife to roam Australia. The series, entitled ‘Austrlia’s Most Dangerous’ includes the Tasmanian Devil, the Western Taipan and the Saltwater Crocodile. Each coin features a skeleton design of the animal, along with its name in English and Latin, as well as a map of Australia highlighting the region they were most prominent.
These $5 coins are 1oz silver proofs, and have a limited mintage of 5,000. A set of all three is available, which comes with a special outer box to store all three coins in their original packaging.
Rounding out the new RAM releases, is a pair of coins celebrating the Afghan Cameleers.
This is a 50c release, available in both an uncirculated carded version as well as a 1oz silver proof edition.
The carded release is limited to a mintage of 30,000, and the proof is just 2,500.
These highlight the unique contribution to the development of inland Australia made by the camels, and their handlers, in the 1800’s.
Finally, a quick mention of a new investment coin that RAM has snuck out into the wild with little fanfare. This silver bullion coin features a design of the Sumatran Tiger, and release under The Australia Zoo name, which is included on the coin design.
As this is intended as an investment coin, the price is tied to the current silver ‘spot’ price which varies day to day. As such, you need to contact RAM in order to get a price and make a purchase. However, it is listed in their store so that you can review all the specs before making a decision.
Silver investment has gone through the roof in the last few weeks after the price plummeted to a decade-long low. Bullion sellers all over have seen their stocks depleted regardless of coin design.
Whilst the price has rallied back a bit since the big drop – there is still plenty of room for it to rise. We imagine that the unique design of the coin, along with the investment potential, will mean the 25,000 mintage won’t last too long.