Silver Ounce 2019 Australian Koala, Bullion, Coin from Australia - detailed information

The Australian one ounce silver piece (abbreviated as 1 oz and designated with Ag for "silver") is a bullion coin format. Uniquely, in Australia there are two mints independently 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.

The Australian Koala series by the Perth Mint comes in several sizes and compositions: 1 kg silver, 5 oz silver, 1 oz silver numismatic (proof, high relief) and 1 oz silver bullion. The Royal Australian Mint also issues silver Kookaburra bullion coins.

The reverse design changes every year, always featuring a koala - one of the most famous and distinctive animals native to Australia. The silver ounce coins have a face value of 1 dollar, but this is only symbolic - as the bullion value of their precious metal content is much higher. The coins were .999 fine silver until the 2018 edition, which increased in purity to .9999 silver. The overall weight is slightly more than an ounce, so that the pure silver content is exactly 1.000 ASW (troy ounce Absolute Silver Weight).

This coin is part of the long-running Australian Koala series by the Perth Mint, which has a new reverse design every year, and is one of the "bullion" issues; there is a different "numismatic" ounce which is high relief, thicker and with smaller diameter.

The Mint says about it:
The Perth Mint’s 2019 Bullion Coin Program continues its 120-year tradition of offering outstanding craftsmanship, iconic artistry and assured purity with exquisite new designs struck on pure gold, silver and platinum coins. The 13th annual koala design portrays one of Australia’s most best loved marsupials sitting astride branches in a flowering eucalyptus tree.