Interesting answer to questions on the Perth Mint blog site regarding the Series 2 Lunar Coins. My reading of this is, the Perth Mint will continue to make all the Lunar versions (at the moment Mouse, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit) until the series ends in 2019 in the case of the 1kg or in the case of 1oz, reach their mintage limits. Does this mean the scarcer mintages like the 1oz Mouse and Ox are still being made ??? Seems that ALL the series 2 bullion 1oz coins will therefore reach 300,000 and the 1kg's at an unknown level. Only the 2oz, 1/2oz, 5oz, 10oz and 1/2kg have their mintages ended at the end of the Lunar year. Questions and Answers below. Does the Mint have mintage figures for the coloured bullion editions as yet? These figures are being carefully compiled right now by some of our staff members who have been working on the project for many months, and will be published as soon as they are finalised. (The list will include all Australian legal tender numismatic coins produced by the Perth Mint since 1986, not just the Special Edition Lunars.) When do you plan to release the 2008 and 2009 Lunar 1oz & 1kg mintages? As we've previously stated in our catalogues and brochures, we will continue to sell the 1oz and 1kg silver Lunar from Series II until either: 1) the mintage is reached (in the case of the 1oz, where the max is 300,000 for both 2008 Mouse and 2009 Ox), or 2) the Series is completely finished (2019 Year of the Pig) and the mintages for the entire Series are declared. Sales and mintages figures of our other silver releases will be posted in the near future. When will the 2010 Tiger 1oz and 1kg mintages be available? In the event that the 1oz coin sells out, we will declare it at the time it sells out, but otherwise we will announce the sales figures for both of these coins at the end of the series (it would be likely to be mid-2020).
I sometimes wonder how can anyone verify mintage figures other than to trust the mint completely that those numbers are good? We have seen how Perth Mint "revised" those numbers. Are those figures officially audited by an independent party or it's just pretty much what they claim to be?
It seems this is a different arrangement to series 1 where the minting of the 1oz coins ended each year. If the mint is going to still mint and sell a 2008 Mouse right up until the end of the series in 2019, then it and all 1oz designs will surely reach 300,000.
I could have sworn I read somewhere that past-year Lunar II minting would only occur for 1oz and 1kg coins. If the mintage says 300,000 (for the 1oz) I'd just assume that 300,000 will be minted anyway, rather than keeping my fingers crossed that I picked a rare year to buy some. 300,000 is still a pissy little amount for a bullion coin mintage anyway.
As long as they dont change their mind later on and decide to increase the mintage. We have seen the Kooks move to 500k (or more for 2011?). In any case, glad I bought a few rolls of the Series 1 lunars.
That's OK, I like the kooks....they're kookie P.S. And if the mintages of '08 & '09 still haven't been reached, how come I can't get any of the little beggars!?
Presumably because the Mint ceases production when the next year starts, around August. But unlike Series 1, the Mint will mint more of those coins eg Mouse/Ox as it pleases until either 300,000 is reached or it gets to 2019. You can bet its minted coins like Mouse/Ox will only available to Perth Mint distributors to then on sell at a price they please.
The only way to try and get a small mintage would be to buy the 2 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 5 ounce and 10 ounce sizes as they are only minted during that Lunar year and wont be minted in later years.
This was known from the start of the series. But I think that 300k is a small mintage by todays standards and collectors prefer 1oz coins. And of course it's also know that you can't buy bullion coins directly from the mint, it was never possible, so nothing new there also.
The 10oz kook from 2011 could become a valuable piece. Stopped making them recently... possibly forever. Wouldn't be too many produced in the last couple months.
Well actually you can buy bullion coins directly from the mint, its just they are usually cheaper from a bullion broker. http://www.perthmintbullion.com/au/Buy-Silver-Coins/All-Silver-Coins.aspx#
And this has come true with the Mint going back and in 2011 re-striking the 2008 Lunar Mouse 1oz up to the 300k limit. I would think this would be last time though as each year the 300k limit will likely be reached.
I know you edited the post but re: your original question concerning legality and limits of mintages there are comlaw.gov.au documents which specifies the limits on mintages for each design etc etc The links are floating around on the forums somewhere. Saw your post but didn't have time to reply this morning
