Guess you are talking about the Australian 2001 lunar snake coin. The 1 oz gold 2001 lunar snake coin had a mintage of 30,000 coins which are all sold out. So now if you buy the coin, you will have to make your purchase from a coin dealer and pay a bigger premium. I suggest, if you are keen on collecting lunar snake coins, you might as well consider switching to Lunar series II 2013 year of the snake gold proof coins. The coin is available on the mint and so you can be assured of a genuine deal and lower premium. Gold is in a bear territory and the prices have fallen dramatically, so it's best to time your purchase such that you can take advantage of the price drop. Think about it like this, now that gold price is at a multi-year low, you are getting the coin at an attractive discount.
