Silver Ounce 2014 Australian Map - Koala, Coin from Australia - detailed information

The Australian one ounce silver piece (abbreviated as 1 oz and designated with Ag for "silver") is a bullion and commemorative 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.

Some of these coins can be classified as "Smartminting" (or "smart minting") due to the technologies used in their production; these include irregular shapes, coloured surfaces, precious stone inserts etc. The coins are targeted at collectors who appreciated them as art rather than at bullion investors.

This coin is the fifth issue in the Perth Mint's Australian Map Shaped Coin Series featuring various native animals of Australia, and depicts a Koala.

The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (Phascolarctos cinereus) is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats, which are members of the family Vombatidae. The koala is found in coastal areas of the mainland's eastern and southern regions, inhabiting Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is easily recognisable by its stout, tailless body and large head with round, fluffy ears and large, spoon-shaped nose. The koala has a body length of 60-85 cm and weighs 4-15 kg. Fur colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas from the northern populations are typically smaller and lighter in colour than their counterparts further south. These populations possibly are separate subspecies, but this is disputed.