The Australian one ounce platinum piece (abbreviated as 1 oz and designated with Pt for "Platinum") is a bullion coin format. Uniquely, in Australia there are two mints authorised to strike legal tender: the Royal Australian Mint (which also makes the country's circulating coinage) and the Perth Mint which only makes collector and bullion coins, as well as other bullion products.
Both mints endeavour to create coins with attractive designs, and to introduce new designs and themes often, in order to raise the numismatic value of the coins over the value of previous metal used.
This coin is the seventh and final issue in the Australian Platypus series of one-ounce platinum coins by the Perth Mint; the series was discontinued after 2017.
The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus), though a number of related species appear in the fossil record.
Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, and a monotypic taxon as the only member of the family ornithorhynchidae. They are one of the few mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Like other monotremes, it senses prey through electrolocation. It is one of the few species of venomous mammals, as the male platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom, capable of causing severe pain to humans. The unusual appearance of this egg-laying, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled European naturalists when they first encountered it, and the first scientists to examine a preserved platypus body (in 1799) judged it a fake, made of several animals sewn together. |
| Reverse | |
|---|
The coin’s reverse depicts, on a frosted background, an Australian platypus swimming among air bubbles. On an underwater plant to its right, in small letters, the designer's initials NM (for Natasha Muhl).
Around above, the inscription AUSTRALIAN PLATYPUS. Around below, the date of issue and the precious metal content: 2017 1oz 9995 PLATINUM (one troy ounce of 99.95% platinum).
The P mint mark of the Perth Mint is in the field below left. |
|
Search for Australia: Platinum Ounce 2017 Australian Platypus on eBay 