Posted 08/26/2011 03:46 am
Very few countries actually make 1 ounce bullion coins, proof or otherwise. The only countries that do are (a) rich, (b) have silver mines, or (c) are "flag of convenience" countries for one of the larger private or semi-privatized mint-corporations.
In category (a), we have America, Canada and the Great Britain "Britannia".
In category (b), we have Mexico, China and Australia. Note that there are two separate Australian bullion coin series, the Perth Mint's silver " Kookaburra" and the Royal Australian Mint's silver "skippy". Both are legal tender Australian coins.
In category (c), we have things like:
- Tuvalu, such as the "Dangerous Australians" dollars which include the Red-Back dollar, courtesy of the Perth Mint, which is owned by the Western Australian government. Perth Mint has also struck 1 ounce collector coins for Uganda, Cook Islands
- the Fijian "turtle" made by the "New Zealand Mint", a private mint. The same company also makes the New Zealand "silver fern" but they're not legal tender. Many of the coins from Niue and Cook Islands also derive from here.
- Isle of Man, courtesy of the Pobjoy Mint, Britain's largest private mint. 1 ounce coins from other British territories such as the Turks and Caicos Islands are usually their work, too.
- Marshall Islands, courtesy of the Roger Williams Mint in the USA; you want to look for the ones with $50 face value, though the Marshall Islands have since retroactively demonetized these coins so they are no longer legal tender.
- Liberia and Somalia, thanks to a whole bunch of private mints in America such as National Collectors Mint. Since Liberia and Somalia were both anarchies at the time the coins were issued, one has to wonder about their "legal tender" status, too. Many are not listed in the Krause catalogue for this reason.
Many countries, in all three categories, have long traditions of issuing silver coins that are not exactly 1 ounce of .999 silver, but are nevertheless treated as "bullion coins". France, Germany, Poland, Russia, South Africa and others all have long series of sterling silver coins, in all sorts of weight standards. The "ounce" is, after all, an English-based unit of measurement, and not something that non-English-speaking countries have a natural affinity for.
There are also some countries that come close: Peru, for instance, has issued coins containing 1 troy ounce of silver, but made of .925 sterling (and so weigh slightly over an ounce), while Singapore has made sterling coins that weigh exactly 1 troy ounce (and so contain only 0.925 ounces of silver).
In category (a), we have America, Canada and the Great Britain "Britannia".
In category (b), we have Mexico, China and Australia. Note that there are two separate Australian bullion coin series, the Perth Mint's silver " Kookaburra" and the Royal Australian Mint's silver "skippy". Both are legal tender Australian coins.
In category (c), we have things like:
- Tuvalu, such as the "Dangerous Australians" dollars which include the Red-Back dollar, courtesy of the Perth Mint, which is owned by the Western Australian government. Perth Mint has also struck 1 ounce collector coins for Uganda, Cook Islands
- the Fijian "turtle" made by the "New Zealand Mint", a private mint. The same company also makes the New Zealand "silver fern" but they're not legal tender. Many of the coins from Niue and Cook Islands also derive from here.
- Isle of Man, courtesy of the Pobjoy Mint, Britain's largest private mint. 1 ounce coins from other British territories such as the Turks and Caicos Islands are usually their work, too.
- Marshall Islands, courtesy of the Roger Williams Mint in the USA; you want to look for the ones with $50 face value, though the Marshall Islands have since retroactively demonetized these coins so they are no longer legal tender.
- Liberia and Somalia, thanks to a whole bunch of private mints in America such as National Collectors Mint. Since Liberia and Somalia were both anarchies at the time the coins were issued, one has to wonder about their "legal tender" status, too. Many are not listed in the Krause catalogue for this reason.
Many countries, in all three categories, have long traditions of issuing silver coins that are not exactly 1 ounce of .999 silver, but are nevertheless treated as "bullion coins". France, Germany, Poland, Russia, South Africa and others all have long series of sterling silver coins, in all sorts of weight standards. The "ounce" is, after all, an English-based unit of measurement, and not something that non-English-speaking countries have a natural affinity for.
There are also some countries that come close: Peru, for instance, has issued coins containing 1 troy ounce of silver, but made of .925 sterling (and so weigh slightly over an ounce), while Singapore has made sterling coins that weigh exactly 1 troy ounce (and so contain only 0.925 ounces of silver).
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
