Silver Ounce 2025 Year of the Snake, High Relief, 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.

The silver Lunar Series series was introduced in 1999 by the Perth Mint (the Royal Australian Mint started a parallel series later) and is dedicated to the Chinese Lunar Calendar and the Chinese Zodiac. Known as Sheng Xiao or Shu Xiang, it features twelve animal signs in this order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Boasting a history of more than 2,000 years, it plays an essential role in Chinese culture. The animals zodiac in a cycle are not only used to represent years in China, but also believed to influence people’s personalities, career, compatibility, marriage, and fortune.

This coin is part of Perth Mint's extensive range of coins celebrating the Chinese Lunar Year of the Snake (29 January 2025 - 16 February 2026). It is the sixth release in its Lunar Series III - in other words, the third 12-year cycle of Lunar coins.

The mint says about it:
"According to Chinese folklore, the emperor ordered a Great Race between all the animals on Earth to determine who should occupy 12 positions in the lunar calendar. Using its guile, the snake finished in sixth place. As a result, those born under the sign of the Chinese Lunar Snake in 2025, 2013, 2001, 1989 and every 12th preceding year are said to inherit the snake’s wisdom, intelligence, independence, and charm. Struck in high relief, the coin’s reverse portrays a coiled snake on the ground beneath hanging leaves."

The coin has a smaller diameter than the bullion silver ounce, and is struck on a thicker planchet.