Coin World senior editor Jeff Starck discusses the 2017 Lunar Animal silver and gold bullion coins, which become available from the Perth Mint today. The popular program honors the Year of the Rooster in 2017 with a design showcasing a family of the barnyard birds. Seven sizes of pure silver coins and eight sizes of gold coins are available in the Chinese Zodiac program.

Full video transcript:

Good morning. Welcome to the Monday Morning Brief. I’m Jeff Starck of Coin World.

Here in west-central Ohio, the daylight is getting shorter and a few leaves are falling to the ground, as the approach of autumn continues.

But down under in Australia, it’s nearly spring, and that means it’s time for a new launch of the Perth Mint’s annual silver and gold Lunar Animal bullion coins.

The famous factory in Western Australia on September 12 is beginning sales of seven silver bullion coins and eight gold bullion coins, all marking 2017 as the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese Zodiac calendar.

Each coin’s reverse features a rooster, hen and three chicks standing among flowers and bamboo foliage.

The design is produced on .9999 fine silver coins ranging from half-ounce to 10 kilograms in size, and on .9999 fine gold coins as small as one-twentieth of an ounce and as large as one kilogram.

As with recent years, most of the coins do not have a mintage limit.

The rare exceptions are the 1-ounce sizes, and the 10-kilogram silver coin. The 1-ounce sizes have regularly sold out their 30,000 mintage in gold and 300,000 mintage in silver. However, the maximum mintage of the 10-kilogram silver coin, at 100 this year, is down from earlier years.

The barnyard birds on this scene lack the ferocity of animals like the dragon or tiger, but the limited mintage on the 1-ounce sizes should be enough to compel buyers to buy the issue out, notwithstanding any question of design. (And we think it’s kind of cool anyway.)

The rest of the Perth Mint’s popular precious metal programs will unfold between now and January 2017, as the Mint allocates capacity.

Following the Lunar series are the gold Kangaroo and silver Kookaburra coins due for release in October. The silver Kangaroo hops onto the scene in November, and the silver Koala and platinum Platypus coins are scheduled for release in January.

According to the Perth Mint, its bullion coin programs represent 94 percent of its annual sales. It’s unclear whether that is measured in dollars or mintage numbers, but either way, what is clear is that bullion is big business at the Perth Mint.

You can bet whenever these coins roll off the presses, Coin World will be sure to provide updates.

Just follow us on Twitter, find us at Facebook, online at CoinWorld.com, and of course, in print in your mailbox.

For Coin World, I’m Jeff Starck. Happy collecting! 

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