Just grabbed the 1oz gold Unicorn proof. Should get by the end of the week Mintage on the Lion was 1000, mintage on the unicorn is only 400
Advice needed.. on eBay USA there is a deal for the 1/4 oz gold lion.. it works out to about $450ish each Aussie. Now the kicker... it’s about $35-$40ish for postage.. so I was thinking of grabbing 4 which would make it out to be $460 each. Now I know they’re the first in the series and I can’t find a seller in Aus who still has these.. I saw that perth bullion is selling the 1oz version for around $1810... do I get these 1/4 ozers or go for the 1oz instead?
Just my two cents... The "consensus" seems to prefer buying local; main arguments being probably somewhat lower risk of scam/fakes, supporting your local coin shop (obv.), avoiding possible currency conversion / credit card fees, avoiding higher shipping / potential customs clearance fees for orders over 1000AUD, and avoiding overseas returns hassle should something go wrong. This thread is old but may be an interesting read nevertheless: https://www.silverstackers.com/foru...er-into-australia-with-orders-over-1000.5363/ That said, I'm assuming many stackers buy from overseas and without any hickups. The question about choosing between 1oz vs 1/4oz I guess boils down to premiums, mintages ("collectibility") and your exit plan (in the event you'd want to sell). Not much info seems available on the mintages... I found two FOI responses from RM regarding the QB's and 1oz'er mintages: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/queens_beast_series https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/gold_coin_mintage#incoming-1029996 1oz Queens Beasts (to date) - 31 Aug 2017 - Lion 22,366 struck - Griffin 12,656 struck - Dragon 10,012 struck And this from another forum (apparently obtained via a FOI request): Standard Alloy Theme Fine Oz / Size Mintage Limit DStE* March 2018 Bullion GOLD Dragon 0.25 No Limit 10,421 Bullion GOLD Dragon 1 No Limit 14,456 Bullion GOLD Griffin 0.25 No Limit 10,758 Bullion GOLD Griffin 1 No Limit 13,159 Bullion GOLD Lion 0.25 No Limit 20,094 Bullion GOLD Lion 1 No Limit 22,707 Bullion GOLD Unicorn 0.25 No Limit 10,193 Bullion GOLD Unicorn 1 No Limit 12,268 Bullion GOLD Bull 0.25 No Limit 5,066 Bullion GOLD Bull 1 No Limit 5,612 Bullion Platinum Dragon 1 No Limit 3,020 Bullion Platinum Griffin 1 No Limit 3,051 Bullion Platinum Lion 1 No Limit 4,135 Bullion SILVER Dragon 2 No Limit 195,263 Bullion SILVER Dragon 10 No Limit 5,077 Bullion SILVER Griffin 2 No Limit 183,939 Bullion SILVER Griffin 10 No Limit 8,286 Bullion SILVER Lion 2 No Limit 259,204 Bullion SILVER Lion 10 No Limit 16,305 Bullion SILVER Unicorn 2 No Limit 155,700 Bullion SILVER Bull 2 No Limit 107,564 *Despatched Sales to End March 2018 Noteworthy the RM Mintage Policy For Bullion coins: A cease of production is usually announced approximately 12 months after the launch date of a new bullion coin product. This is approximate as it is dependent on varying factors, including production and manufacturing schedules and capabilities, but typically is within a few weeks of the 12 month window. The 10oz Silver Queens Beast Dragon for example, which launched on 19th March 2018, will cease towards the end of March/beginning of April 2019. The date of course will remain the same on the coin for the duration. ---- Assuming the production for the two first coins in the series, lions and griffins, has already ceased (per above policy), it would seem there are almost twice as many gold lions than gold griffins produced.
Bullion is tax exempt, however if you're importing over $1000 you'll have to pay for some import declaration, which costs around $80-90 from memory. So you're probably better off just ordering 2 to stay under the $1000 limit.