Hi, have just been doing some research and looking at mintages here: http://www.perthmint.com.au//docume...nar_Silver_Bullion_Series_One_1999_-_2010.pdf I am assuming that "unlimited" means exactly that and there could be a million or more if they ever wanted too, but I'm curious as to why Series I, Mouse, Ox and Tiger only have "mint to order" which means they wont mint any more till someone places a big order and not the rest of the Series. Does that mean if they ever got an order they could carry on. Also does anyone have a link when I can find out Series I and II Proof mintages. Thanks in advance
yes exactly lionfishcoin, wish I could've done that. Relooking at the Pig in above pic, it would seem that in 2007 the mint had no limit on how many 2,5 and 10oz it could produce ie unlimited. However for some reason (why?) on the 1oz and 1/2oz there was a maximum limit imposed ie 300,000 and 500,000. I think that the Sales figure column is the actual number of coin produced. So onto the Mouse and mint to order. Does anyone know if the Mice, Meece, Mouses being minted now are Series I or Series II. I'm guessing seeing as Aurora, just got some boxes in, someone will be able to shed some light on it. If they are Series I then I guess the whole "unlimited" thing as above could make a re strike of anything possible.... I'm guessing they will be Series II though. I'm personally not interested in wether they mint 1000 or 10million it would just be nice to know for the records coz in 100 years time, my great great grandkids may be interested.... and I wont be around to tell em, but hopefully our stack legacy will live on. Rockin'
The current mice are Series II. "Mint to order" theoretically means that the coins are struck in response to a wholesale order being placed. Series I gold and silver coins were out of sync however - the gold coins started 3 years before the silver coins did, so 2007 saw the silver Mouse, Ox and Tiger Series I coins all released the same year to wrap both gold and silver Series I up at the same time - given the fact that in previous years the 1oz coins never came close to reaching the 300,000 limit, and with three competing designs all vying for orders, the mint may have simply changed them to being "mint to order" so they didn't end the year with a glut of Ox if everyone wanted Tigers instead etc. The 300,000 limit was probably still implied. So the Series I Mouse/Ox/Tiger coins have two dates minted on them - the lunar year (2008/2009/2010) on the reverse (the lunar side) and the same "mint" year (2007) on the obverse (the side with the Queen's portrait). For the record I think the Series I 1oz Tiger is a sleeper coin - it's a good design with the lowest 1oz Series I mintage.
Thank you for that information, very informative. Cool that the current mice are Series II, but just want to get it clarified. Now if I could just find out about the Proof mintage....... Rockin'
Just to clarify this Lunar Series topic. 1. No further Series 1 Lunar coins, of any size will be minted. 2. As for Series 2, the mint can strike up to 300,000 of the 1oz coins, maximum. If in a given year they dont strike 300,000 coins, they can up until Series 2 ends (in 2019), can mint previous year coins (as they are doing with the 2008 Mouse) until the 300,000 limit is reached. eg. If the 2008 Mouse for example had only 100,000 coins made in 2008, the mint could in say 2015 decide to make a further 200,000 coins maximum. The 10kg coins has a maximum mintage of 500. 3. The other Series 2 sized coins, being the 1/2oz, 2oz, 5oz, 10oz, 1kg have an unlimited mintage up until the next year's Lunar coin begins production, then these coins' production are ceased with no further coins minted. ie. The Mint will not go back and mint a 2oz Mouse coin now for example as that design is closed. With there being such a high demand for silver and the 2011 1oz Rabbit already sold out, you might find for the first time the non-1oz sized coins could have a mintage higher than the 1oz, eg more than say 300,000 1kg coins could be minted. In fact the 1kg Rabbit might become the most minted Lunar coin to date if current trends continue.
