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.
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 one ounce silver coin with a face value of $1 is part of a Perth Mint series featuring the Quokka.
Quokkas are wallaby-like marsupials found mainly in the south west region of Western Australia, particularly Rottnest Island, an idyllic location 18 kilometres off the coast near Perth. About the same size of domestic cats, furry quokkas are extremely sociable animals blessed with a cute, smiley and highly photogenic appearance.
Friendly and curious by nature, quokkas are often content to interact with respectful humans. Adding to their appeal, furry faced quokkas appear to smile, a characteristic that has earned them the reputation for being the "happiest animals on Earth". A massive drawcard for visitors to their Rottnest Island home, they have a magnetic attraction for those keen for a "quokka selfie". |