Perth Mint Review
The Perth Mint (www.perthmint.com.au), which is one of the world’s mints which is ready and willing to sell directly to the public – and is an excellent online source for its own precious metal products – was first created in the last year of the nineteenth century because of the nearby gold deposits in Western Australia. Although few outside the island continent are aware of the fact, Australia witnessed a “Gold Rush” every bit as exuberant as the famous American California and Alaskan Klondike gold rushes.
The British Empire, which then owned Australia outright, took the practical step of building mints close to the sources of gold around the world in order to strike “gold sovereign” coins locally, thus saving greatly on transportation costs. With its large deposits, Australia was a natural choice for one of these branches of the Royal Mint, and accordingly the Perth Mint was founded for this purpose.
Following Australian independence, the Mint began to strike Australian legal tender and commemorative coins rather than British equivalents. The Australian Nugget coins, the Kangaroo series, and many others were all produced by the mint. Today, the Perth Mint is a supplier of many different types of bullion to the world.
How to Buy Bullion Direct from the Perth Mint
The Perth Mint is one of the mints that is refreshingly willing to sell directly to the public, partly because it has no worries about the accusations of “socialist” or “communist” tampering in the economy which would be leveled immediately at the United States Mint if it were to attempt the same thing. You can place orders for bullion with the Mint both by telephone and using the Internet store function on their site. The coins listed have a “Buy it Now” button which will put your choices into a shopping cart for purchase.
Of course, as might be expected, there are a few hoops to jump through during the ordering process, but where precious metals are involved, there is always a heightened level of security to protect buyers as well as the selling organization. You will need to apply for an account, which can take a short while to process.
You will need to fill out an online application on the site, mail physical, certified or notarized copies of photo ID to the Perth Mint’s address in East Perth, and wait briefly for your account to be authorized after the proper paperwork has been received.
Perth Mint purchases within Australia are either delivered by Australian Air Express to residential or business addresses, or to business addresses only in a Brinks armored car. Photo ID matching the photo ID you provided while starting your account will also need to be shown.
International Purchases from the Perth Mint
Since the Perth Mint is located “Down Under”, as the expression goes, it might be thought that receiving silver or gold bullion from this institution would be difficult, if not impossible, if you live elsewhere in the world. Nothing could be farther from the truth, however, and the Mint is fully prepared to accept international orders and arrange delivery to your home or business whether you live in Oceania, Western Europe, China, the United States of America, or elsewhere in the world.
Receiving Perth Mint orders in the United States of America is the easiest type of international ordering. America is one of the biggest markets for gold and silver bullion anyway, thanks to the large amounts of demand in the country and the unshakeable faith many Americans have in precious metals. This high demand has allowed the Perth Mint to profitably maintain an “international depository” in New York City.
Because of this, purchases in the U.S. are shipped via United States Postal Service Priority Mail, or UPS Overnight, depending on your preference. Despite considerable propaganda to the contrary, the USPS is actually one of the most efficient, reliable, and swift postal services in the world, as anyone who has visited Eastern Europe or South America will appreciate very clearly. USPS may be a better choice both because it is cheaper than UPS, and because postal workers cannot open parcels and look at the contents, while UPS workers are allowed by their firm to open a parcel if they deem it “necessary”.
For all non-Australian, non-American deliveries of Perth Mint orders, FedEx is used, shipping from Perth. In all cases, photo ID and a signature will be needed to take delivery of the bullion. Customs may delay packages to some locations, but delivery usually takes a maximum of five days.
What is Perth Mint Bullion Like?
Perth Mint bullion comes in both 99.9% pure silver and 99.99% pure gold, to meet the precious metals demand of many different types of investor. These metal products come in the form of both bars and bullion coins. The Perth Mint offers platinum coins as well, allowing those who wish to diversify their portfolio into as many different metals as possible to purchase at least three different metals from the same source.
The Perth Mint strikes some bullion coins in large numbers to serve mostly as a store of value, while others – particularly their numerous series of special commemorative coins – are struck in limited numbers to encourage swift accumulation of numismatic value. These coins, as the website of the Mint declares, are meant for collectors and those interested in buying and selling coins for a profit due to their rising premium above spot, rather than just to store them in a safe deposit box for decades in case of hyperinflation.
The bullion coins produced by the Perth Mint are designed to be highly attractive, and are struck with the highest modern production values as well. The appearance of these coins is often enhanced with additional details such as colorizing of parts of the reverse (probably with some kind of translucent enamel paint), gilding, proof finishes, and all the other methods that transform a bullion coin into a tiny, exquisite piece of metal art.
Some of the more interesting series of bullion coins the Perth Mint offers are:
• The Celebrate Australia Series, which includes such notable coins as the Purnululu World Heritage National Park, which shows a kangaroo standing against a backdrop of red sandstone cliffs, and the Wet Tropics of Queensland silver coin, which depicts an emu, or large flightless bird, standing in front of a waterfall.
• The Deadly & Dangerous Silver Coin Series, which features enameled silver coins that depict six of Australia’s most perilous beasts in living color on a background of .999 fine silver. From the alien panache of the Red-Back Spider to the yellowish coils of the Eastern Brown Snake, or the tiny but deadly Blue-Ringed Octopus, whose neurotoxins can easily kill a man, this coin collection depicts the dramatic array of fatal animals that inhabit the southern island continent.
• The Working Dogs Silver Coin Series is a set of five coins saluting the faithful, hard-working canine companions of mankind. The coins are colorized with enamel paint again, and each coin shows an adult dog with an adorable puppy beside it. The Australian Cattle Dog, Beagle, German Shepherd, Border Collie, and Labrador Retriever are featured on the coins.
• The Great Russian Minds Silver Coin Series shows two men of genius from the easternmost – and much afflicted – nation of Europe, Russia. The coins are silver but feature very detailed tinted portraits of the two Russians who appear on them, Gogol and Chekhov.
• The Great Warriors Silver Coin Series depicts four different warriors from the past – a Japanese samurai, a European knight, a Roman Legionary, and a Viking with two axes. These martially themed coins, redolent of the past adventures and drama of humankind’s history, are .999 fine silver, with the figure of the warrior carefully picked out in enameling.
• There are dozens of other silver coin series as well.
• The gold coin series are more limited, but include the Lucky Cat Gold Coin Series, which shows a friendly, cartoonish, stumpy-legged cat waving cheerfully at the viewer. There are six different variants on the theme, ranging in size from 1/5 ounce to 1/25 ounce. The cats are all colorized, which is rather startling in gold coin, where the aureate shimmer of the gold is usually considered decoration enough.
• The Treasures of Australia Gold Coin Series is an interesting case of gold coins being used to depict other precious items! Pearls and various gems are shown on the coin series, colorized to resemble the actual treasures. There are four coins in the series, all 1 troy ounce.
• The Gold Kangaroo, Gold Kookaburra, Gold Koala, and Gold Lunar Series coins are familiar to all serious collectors around the world, and are all struck at the Perth Mint as well.
