kookaburras vs koalas

Discussion in 'Silver Coins' started by HoskinsStreet, Nov 12, 2011.

  1. HoskinsStreet

    HoskinsStreet New Member

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    sorry for the newb question, but is there any difference bar cosmetic between koalas and kookaburras?

    they are both 1ounce per

    i mainly buy bullion the few coins are just a bit on the sideth mint coins. i have koalas but only because thats what the shop i bought from had at the time.
     
  2. alexisio

    alexisio New Member Silver Stacker

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    Only diff i notice is people prefer to buy Kooks rather than the Koalas. Good to see another local (almost ) on here.
     
  3. heyimderrick

    heyimderrick Active Member

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    Kookaburras have a limited annual mintage, Koalas do not. Generally because of this, the Koala has a lower premium attached to it at the time of purchase and then when reselling it later on.
     
  4. Cimexus

    Cimexus Member

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    The design on the koalas (well for the last few years at least) is butt ugly! Does that count as a difference? :)

    Seriously though, the only difference is design and the fact that kooks are limited to a mintage of 500k (2012) or 300k (previous years). As heyimderrick above says, this means kooks often attract a better resale value (more premium). They are both bullion coins though (not numismatics/collectables), so particularly insomuch as you aren't really interest in coins that much to begin with, if you just want to load up on silver, either will do.
     
  5. yennus

    yennus Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Koalas in my experience are more favored than Kooks overseas... must be the cuddly nature of the bears :)
     
  6. Javacoffee

    Javacoffee New Member

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    Koalas are cuter and in design compared to kooks but in terms of mintage and resale value, Kooks are much more sought after.
     
  7. jpanggy

    jpanggy Active Member

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    for current year silver, 2012 seems to be tipping towards kookaburras from my point of view. The koalas does not look terribly pretty from the photos.
     
  8. Arsenal

    Arsenal New Member

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    Kooks over Koalas for me. Every time there has been a minor silver shortage kooks have always been in short supply whereas koalas are always available. imo the koalas for 2012 are gross and the kooks are very impressive.

    At first I didn't like the 2012 Kook design until I saw the coin in the flesh and then had to buy more.
     
  9. Matthew 26:14

    Matthew 26:14 New Member

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    The key really is supply. Kooks 1oz max 500,000 coins. Koalas 1oz max is unlimited. The earlier koalas like 07, 08 had small mintages and therefore you see them carry a premium over Kooks. But now Koalas have a much higher mintage due to the other fixed mintage Perth Mint coins (Lunar, Kook) reaching their mintages leaving only Koalas being minted for several months and hence in high numbers.
     
  10. nicwinner

    nicwinner Active Member Silver Stacker

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  11. Eureka Moments

    Eureka Moments Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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  12. silvstack

    silvstack Member

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    how about kooks v. pandas?
    actually i see mintages are higher but the demand is probably exponentially higher too.
    i'm new to these. apmex is offering kooks for US$40 and they sure are pretty, but some of the older ones are spectacular.
     
  13. 1for1

    1for1 Well-Known Member

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    Hi, for the 2011 and 2012 youd want to be buying Kookaburras due to the fact the Koala mintages will be collossal.

    In terms of chasing pre 2011 id say koalas are the better investment, the ample supply of the newer ones should see them gain notoriety world wide and a % of those investors will eventually chase the older ones (which have crazy low mintages!)

    The potential upside for the koalas is great - and carded ones are well worth hanging onto IMO

    Koala 2010 .......................... 100,000
    Koala 2009 .......................... 100,000
    Koala 2008 .......................... 84,057
    Koala 2007 .......................... 137,764

    All less than the Kook which was 300K but has since been upped to 500K..

    Carded Koalas can be picked up for just a couple of bucks extra but note the extremely low mintages

    Koala 2009 .......................... 6,000 (early est)
    Koala 2008 .......................... 4,601
    Koala 2007 .......................... 3,060

    I personally dont like the last few Koala designs and dont rate koalas on bullion but my opinion is not overly important.. Kooks on the other hand are by and large very cool.. and so i prefer to stack em..

    I stocked up on Kooks but will not be buying 2012 koalas as there is far to much cool stuff out there at this stage anyway...

    good luck and remember to dollar cost average so you have money to invest tomorrow when your knowledge increases!

    1for1
     
  14. 1for1

    1for1 Well-Known Member

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    Hey, well 2012 Kooks just sold out so if you didnt yet buy its basically to late..

    The big difference is you can still pick up earlier kooks for a steal.. sometimes just a few bucks over spot.. using that rationale and understanding they are a "sleeper" investment the potential upside could be dramatic..

    A lot of older pandas are realising considerable prices so to some extent at least, people are paying prices for pandas which reflect there scarcity, the same could not be said for the 300K and 500K Kooks which can all be picked up for under $50 each (2012-1990), the flip side is demand which pandas certianly have a potential to explode. On the other hand Kookaburras would only require a slight following or interest from bullion collectors to start getting tricky to find which would surely drive the prices up.

    Pandas also retail higher by a few % so that is worth noting.

    Id advise buying new pandas (2011 & 2012) and not touching the older ones until you advance your knowledge in the field.. When you get into pandas spot price becomes less relevant so it ceases to become bullion purchases and really emulates a numismatic investment.

    Numismatic Investments are fickle with serious downside potential (the equivilant of a bubble AKA 2012 dragoons at $100) , for this reason i invest in bullion silver as close to spot as possible, i do think its worth paying a few bucks extra to get a lunar, panda, kook, kangaroo OR generic bullion rounds which are the cheapest such as buffalo or scottsdale BUT dont consider a Maple leaf or ASE or PAMPs to be worthy of paying any extra for.

    1for1
     
  15. rbaggio

    rbaggio Active Member Silver Stacker

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    Mintages are actually as follows (maybe the Mint released new figures?):

    Koala 2010 .......................... 233,531
    Koala 2009 .......................... 336,757
    Koala 2008 .......................... 84,057
    Koala 2007 .......................... 137,768
     
  16. 1for1

    1for1 Well-Known Member

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    Hi, i pulled them from this site:

    http://www.silverbullionworld.com/koalamintage.html

    Not sure whose right or how the mintage's are so far off? regardless the point was maintained that earlier dates, despite being "unlimited" had small mintage's

    1for1
     
  17. alor

    alor Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    so 2008 Koala should top the rank. :)
     
  18. HoskinsStreet

    HoskinsStreet New Member

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    Also got a kangaroo now...
     
  19. Anthony

    Anthony New Member

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    Rbaggio's numbers match what I have, which were sourced from the mint.

    My prediction is that this year will be a massive mintage for the Koalas (due to the sellouts of the Dragons and Kooks), so older year Koalas will see a nice spike as their "rarity in the series" will increase.
     
  20. 1for1

    1for1 Well-Known Member

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    Koala Mintage's - Carded*

    2007 FINAL COIN IN CARD MINTAGE: 3,060
    2008 FINAL COIN IN CARD MINTAGE: 4,601
    2009 FINAL COIN IN CARD MINTAGE: 6,292
    2010 FINAL COIN IN CARD MINTAGE: 2,752 (woo woo!)
    2011 FINAL COIN IN CARD MINTAGE: unknown

    2010 is the winner for carded.

    *stats pulled off Perth Mint Koala Pages

    1for1
     

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