These are offered as part of the Perth Mint’s extremely popular Australian Lunar Series II and will be available to the public beginning on Monday, September 3, 2012.
Each coin in the series is composed from 99.9% pure silver and is guaranteed for weight and purity by the government of Australia. Each also features the new 2013 Year of the Snake reverse design.
That design shows a snake curled around the branch of a tree. Shown to the right of the reptile is the Chinese character for "Snake." The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mint mark is found on the reverse along with the inscription of "Year of the Snake."
2013 Year of the Snake Silver Bullion Coins are struck as legal tender of Australia in addition to the government’s guarantee of content. As legal tender, obverses contain the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II along with the inscriptions of "Elizabeth II," "Australia" and "2013." The obverse also contains the face value and weight of the specific coin.
Lunar silver bullion coins made their debut from the Perth Mint in 1999 with the inaugural strikes of the Lunar Series I. In 2008, the Perth Mint introduced the current Lunar Series II. All of these coins featured annually changing reverse designs based on the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. That zodiac indicates that those with birthdays between February 10, 2013 and January 30, 2014 are born in the Year of the Snake.
As previously mentioned, seven different sized 2013 Year of the Snake Silver Bullion Coins will be issued by the Perth. This includes 10 kilo, 1 kilo, 10 ounce, 5 ounce, 2 ounce, 1 ounce and 1/2 ounce. Of those seven, five will feature unlimited mintages with only the 10 kilo coin and the 1 ounce coin being limited. Mintage of the 10 kilo coin will be no more than 200 with the one ounce coin limited to 300,000 worldwide.
All coins of the series are presented in protective acrylic capsules.
Specifications for Year of the Snake Silver Bullion Coins
| Size | 10 kilo | 1 kilo | 10 oz | 5 oz | 2 oz | 1 oz | 1/2 oz |
| Silver Content (oz) | 321.510 | 32.151 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | .5 |
| Face Value (AUS) | $300 | $30 | $10 | $8 | $2 | $1 | $.50 |
| Minimum Gross Weight (g) | 10,010.000 | 1,001.002 | 311.347 | 155.673 | 62.270 | 31.135 | 15.591 |
| Maximum Diameter (mm) | 221.00 | 100.60 | 85.60 | 65.60 | 55.60 | 45.60 | 36.60 |
| Maximum Thickness (mm) | 33.00 | 14.60 | 6.60 | 5.80 | 3.60 | 2.60 | 2.30 |
| Maximum Mintage Limit | 200 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 300,000 | unlimited |
About the Perth Mint
The Royal Mint of England established the Perth Mint as a branch facility in 1899 to refine and strike gold recovered from nearby deposits. Ownership was transferred to the State Government of Western Australia in 1970. Today the Perth is responsible for the Australian Federal Government’s Gold and Silver Bullion Coin Program in addition to striking some of the most unique numismatic coins in the world.
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