| Coin | Silver Ounce 2020 Tarantula |
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The Tuvaluan Dollar is the currency of Tuvalu - a small nation in the Pacific Ocean. Tuvalu has never had banknotes of its own, and has been issuing coins since 1976; these circulate together with coins of the Australian Dollar, which is also legal tender in the country, and to which the Tuvaluan Dollar is pegged.
The Australian Perth Mint issues a large variety of non-circulating legal tender coins under the authority of Tuvalu. Some of these are in the silver ounce format (abbreviated as 1 oz). Strictly speaking, they are not bullion as they are priced at a premium and are targeted at collectors who appreciate them for their artistic merit and collectable value and not just for their precious metal content.
This coin is part of the Deadly and Dangerous series featuring native Australian animals, and shows a Lionfish.
The Mint says about it:
"The Deadly and Dangerous series features some of Australia's most terrifying creatures. The latest release in this exciting series captures the spine-tingling beauty of the tarantula. The infamous crawler is known as the barking or whistling spider because of the noises it makes when threatened. More widely, the tarantula is also known as the ‘bird-eater’ for its sheer size!
The coin’s reverse highlights this impressive spider, which grows to six centimetres in length with a leg span of 16 centimetres and fans one centimetre long, in striking brown colouring. The insect is depicted against a partially coloured background of leaves and twigs, representing its habitat which ranges from rainforest to desert across Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
The coin is presented in a high-gloss timber display case within an illustrated shipper emblazoned with the warning ‘DANGER’. Each coin is accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity." |
| Mint | Perth Mint |
Mint Mark | No mint mark |
Total Mintage | 2,500 |
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| Obverse | |
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The obverse of the coin shows the crowned mature head of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (her effigy known as the "Fourth Portrait"). The Queen wears the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" diamond tiara, a wedding gift from Queen Mary (Her Majesty's grandmother) in 1947 - which she also has on the Machin and the Gottwald portraits.
In small letters below the head, the artist's initials IRB (for Ian Rank-Broadley).
Around the effigy is the monarch's legend, the date of issue and the value: QUEEN ELIZABETH II 1 oz 9999 Ag 2020 TUVALU 1 DOLLAR.
The inscription around the rim also incorporates the precious metal content. "1 oz 9999 Ag" means "one ounce of 99.99% silver" ("Ag" is abbreviated from Argentum, the Latin word for silver). |
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| Reverse | |
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The coin’s reverse is coloured and depicts a tarantula; the insect is shown against a partially coloured background of leaves and twigs, representing its habitat.
Below right, the inscription AUSTRALIA’S TARANTULA.
The precious metal content, face value and date of issue are on the obverse. |
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| Reverse Inscription |
AUSTRALIA’S TARANTULA |
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| Edge | Milled | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Notes | Finish: proof, coloured.
Packaging: in timber presentation box with illustrated outer shipper, and a numbered Certificate of Authenticity.
Perth Mint Item ID: 20G78AAA
Issue price: AU$ 136.00, US$ 97.30
The mint calls the coins in the series "Commissioned Products" with no further information on who commissioned them; uncharacteristically (probably reflecting this fact), there is no mint mark on them either. There is no available primary information on this series; it seems that the coins are commissioned by the Australian company Downies, with the silver coins being struck by the Perth Mint and the gold coins in the series (some with the same designs) by PAMP or CIT. |
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| See also |
Coins in the Deadly and Dangerous series are issued for a number of counties and include:
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Red-Back Spider 2006
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Great White Shark 2007
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Blue-Ringed Octopus 2008
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Saltwater Crocodile 2009
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Eastern Brown Snake 2010
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Box Jellyfish 2011
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Red-Back Spider (Russian version) 2011
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Great White Shark (Russian version) 2011
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Blue-Ringed Octopus (Russian version) 2011
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Saltwater Crocodile (Russian version) 2011
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Eastern Brown Snake (Russian version) 2011
- 0.5 g Gold, Tokelau, Red-Back Spider 2012
- 0.5 g Gold, Tokelau, Great White Shark 2012
- 0.5 g Gold, Tokelau, Blue-Ringed Octopus 2012
- 0.5 g Gold, Tokelau, Saltwater Crocodile 2012
- 0.5 g Gold, Tokelau, Eastern Brown Snake 2012
- 0.5 g Gold, Tokelau, Box Jellyfish 2012
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Funnel Web Spider 2012
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake 2013
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Spider-Hunting Scorpion 2014
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Bull Ant 2015
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Death Adder 2016
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Bull Shark 2017
- 1 oz Gold, Niue, Red-Back Spider 2018
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Dingo 2018
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Lionfish 2019
- 5 oz Gold, Niue, Red-Back Spider 2020
- 5 oz Silver, Niue, Red-Back Spider 2020
- 1 oz Gold, Niue, Tarantula 2020
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Tarantula 2020
- 1 oz Gold, Niue, Stingray 2021
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Stingray 2021
- 1 oz Gold, Niue, Red-Bellied Black Snake 2022
- 1 oz Silver, Tuvalu, Red-Bellied Black Snake 2022
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