There are no lunar coin releases in this months lineup from the Perth Mint, however noticed some additional Wedge-Tailed Eagle coins that are worth mentioning. Specifically the following coins are listed on the 'Forthcoming Releases' page on the Perth Mint website:
Australian Wedge-Tailed Eagle 2014 1oz & 5oz Silver Proof Coins
I received the flier for these last week (which I will post in full down below). It shows the following coins will be released come May 6th (from 12.01AM AWST):
5oz Silver Proof High Relief Wedge-Tailed Eagle Coin (A$485)
1oz Silver Proof Wedge-Tailed Eagle Coin (A$99)
For those in the USA the coins have been available to order from GovMint for some time already.
These releases follow on from the previously released 'Australian Wedge-Tailed Eagle 2014 1oz Silver Proof High Relief Coin' (10,000 coin mintage) & 'Australian Wedge-Tailed Eagle 2014 1oz Gold Proof High Relief Coin' (1,000 coin mintage).
The silver high relief coin is already achieving significant premiums to release price, selling on ebay regularly for upwards of A$150 and up to A$230. This seems to stem from interest due to a stunning image which was designed by a former Chief US Mint Engraver as previously covered on the Perth Mint's Coin Collector Blog:
In a major development that will have profound significance for numismatists on two continents, The Perth Mint is delighted to announce that the 12th Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint has created the magnificent reverse for our new Australian Wedge-Tailed Eagle gold and silver high-relief proofs.
One of America’s most respected coin sculptor-engravers, John Mercanti joined the U.S. Mint in 1974, holding the position of Chief Engraver from 2006 until his retirement in 2010. His achievements are remarkable – with the coin and medal design process traditionally a competition between members of the in-house team, John is responsible for more successful designs than any other employee in the history of the U.S. Mint.
Among them is the American Eagle silver coin, first issued in 1986. Featuring John’s re-interpretation of ‘Walking Liberty’ and a stunning heraldic eagle on the reverse, “the coin that started it all” was a landmark release in U.S. history.
It will be interesting to see whether the standard 1oz silver proof or 5oz high relief silver proof are able to repeat the price performance of the 1oz high relief silver proof... my thoughts are that the 1oz coin may well do (I am already seeing sales on ebay.com.au at $150 before it's officially released on the Perth Mint website), due to the smaller mintage (5,000 vs 10,000 for the high relief coin). Although the 5oz high relief coin is likely to be stunning, I think the higher price point will reduce the level of interest. As I have pointed out in the past, many of the 5oz proof coins (including those in the lunar series) have failed to increase substantially in price. My thought here is that Perth Mint should lower the price point on the 5oz coins (perhaps a price around $350 would make it more affordable for a larger number of collectors and speculators).
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| 1oz Silver Proof Wedge-Tailed Eagle Coin & 5oz Silver Proof High Relief Wedge-Tailed Eagle Coin |
Cheers
Bullion Baron.
