An old axiom in show business says to never follow children or animals on stage. But with the world wide acceptance of other animals on silver coinage, who can fault the Perth Mint for trying. In the spirit of the updated designs of the Chinese Panda since 2001, the Perth Mint has entered the bullion collectible market in 2007 with the Australian Koala Silver Coin.

Minted in .999 pure silver with a legal tender face value of one dollar, the Koala features Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and an image “depicting Australia’s most endearing marsupial” on the reverse. The Perth Mint describes the reverse design featuring “a cuddly koala clinging tenaciously to the branch of a gum tree. The image appears on a ‘shimmer’ background, a remarkable new effect developed exclusively by The Perth Mint.”

In hand, it is a beautiful coin mounted on a collectible card. The design is very reminiscent of the style used to depict the Pandas but with an interesting background. The field is a series of a geometric shape that is shallow that gives the koala depth on the background. It is very difficult to image without over emphasizing the background.

This is the first issue and the Perth Mint has announced a new design for 2008. I think this fits into my “oh, neat” catagory for being part of my collection.

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