Perth Mint Kookaburra Bullion With No Obverse (Queens Head Missing)

M

melp77

New Member
My brother has acquired these very rare Perth Mint Bullions. The 1 Kilo Kookaburra is a product display from the Perth Mint, the Kangaroo 10oz one is also a product display (not sure what they are made from, but they are not silver)

The 1993 2oz Kookaburra is silver, but on the obverse side it is blank, there is no queens head.

My brother was told that the Perth Mint was making their display product pieces and when they were changing to start minting the real 2oz Kookaburra silver bullions, the press was never changed and that's how this 1993 2oz Kookaburrra was printed before they realised they had made the mistake. (as the story was told to my brother)

He has been offered a decent amount of money for this collection, but he wants to get them valuated properly first before selling them. Does anyone know where the best place is to get them valuated. He would also be curious to know if they would be graded MS70 quality since it was the first print of the day.

Look forward to hearing some replies from the any Silverstackers. THANK YOU


9471_1993group.jpg

Reverse 2 Product Displays and 1 Misprint Bullion on right

9471_1993group-obverse.jpg

Obverse 2 Product Displays and 1 Misprint Bullion on right

9471_1993kook-reverse.jpg

Reverse Misprint Bullion

9471_1993kook-obverse.jpg

Obverse Misprint Bullion
 
They do look like silver to me , but get them XRF tested to make sure
DON'T let anybody try to scratch them to do an acid test
If anybody tries to scratch them ,poke them in the eye with a burning stick :lol:
I'm pretty sure I've seen a 1oz on an auction listing ,can't remember where .
Try giving Scott'y a call from Universal Coin Comp in Melbourne.
Quiet valuable I think , but I wouldn't put a figure on them .
Leski auction's in Melbourne get good prices for that kind of numi stuff
Nice find & good luck

:)
 
Do some research into other ones around, if these are unqiue valuing them will be impossible as no price precendent..
I doubt these would be higher than ms-66 just given there age and seeing as it was a test die.. but i doubt the grade is that relevant as they are in the original state.

Very hard to estimate value so i wont!.. and as bullion dosent usually get this type of "no obverse blank die".

The 10oz gold nugget would be very collectable if its 999 silver and its unique.. it should weight under 10oz if so.. and if its the same as a normal 10oz gold nugget.

Interesting if nothing else!

If you were to get perth mint to corraborate your story in the form of documentation you would be taking the guess work out of it and would surely sell it easier and for more

1for1
 
These are very interesting! if they are indeed a Perth mint product , Why are you so sure they are not silver? weight or plating or?

Maybe a test press or display like you said ,
how did "your brother" acquire something like this?

Thanks for sharing ..
 
The more I look at these I am inclined to think these are silver and not silver , it is hard to tell by photos , the 93 2 OZ kook has the classic rim toning. The other two , I dont know the "10 oz " Gold nugget does not seem to fit the specs or the kilo ,they may have another purpose.

If you send these to be graded , they would probably need some documentation from the mint as to what they are.
and if for some reason they are not a perth product , we know what that means.

Cool stuff..
 
My brother traded these coins recently with a close fried who is also a Perth dealer. I believe the 2 display ones are not silver, because of the weight. I will get my brother to weigh the 2oz Kookaburra, but we are pretty certain it is silver.
 
these are aluminium as far as i know and they are used to test dies you can buy them on ebay but ussually with both sides not just one
 
Argentum said:
these are aluminium as far as i know and they are used to test dies you can buy them on ebay but ussually with both sides not just one
Click to expand...

^
What he said

Also have seen them on eBay before with just 1 side, I think they were tests for 10oz Nuggets.
 
I flicked an enquiry off to the mint for more information - they're going to quiz some of the long term staff in the minting division for more info on the purpose of such items.
 
Informal response from the mint :)

Back in the 90's we made replica display pieces from base metal for some overseas customers. They were normally mounted in a green acrylic and were made from base metal and plated. Because they were mounted they did not have an obverse. These look suspiciously like those and not an error coin. The story that goes with them sounds dodgy as the coins are inspected after striking and destroyed if not up to scratch..

Of course it is difficult to tell without viewing them, I suggest they weigh them that would be a bit of an indicator.
Click to expand...
 
Looks like the display set in Wynyard coin shop, with various sizes of plat koalas, gold roo and silver kookas.
 
My brother has got back to me with the weights of these 3 bullions.
1 Kilo Kookaburra is 7.095oz
10 Oz Kangaroo is 1.598 oz
1993 2oz Kookaburra is 1.90oz
 
So the (Edit: 2Oz) Kook could be Ag if one side has been shaved off - hence my asking for dimensions, thickness especially.
 
goldpelican said:
Informal response from the mint :)

Back in the 90's we made replica display pieces from base metal for some overseas customers. They were normally mounted in a green acrylic and were made from base metal and plated. Because they were mounted they did not have an obverse. These look suspiciously like those and not an error coin. The story that goes with them sounds dodgy as the coins are inspected after striking and destroyed if not up to scratch..

Of course it is difficult to tell without viewing them, I suggest they weigh them that would be a bit of an indicator.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

yep i've seen those replica coins in the green acrylic display, might be one still hanging around I'll see if i can find it. if he had the coins in the acrylic display it would be worth a lot more I suspect.

with that weight for the kilo it is clearly not silver IMO and just a replica
 
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