Well, I got home from work last night a bit later than normal. Then instantly had to leave the house again to pick up a few things. At about 7:30pm it was determined that no one in the house had ever checked our mail. So, I threw on some shoes and popped across the street to our mailbox.
THANK GOODNESS I CHECKED!!!
Because there was SILVER in my mail! đŽ
So, what arrived?
Item One:
Perth Mint Lunar Series 3: Year of the Mouse.
I LOVE this coin! The mice are so cute! The detail in the corn is so sharp! It is also cool because the designs on the silver and gold versions of this coin are different. (Thatâs a pretty clever marking ploy when you are targeting collectors who get tempted by the expensive âone of eachâ syndrome.) I hope every other coin in this series ends up being this cute! đ
So, what is the story here? Well, Australiaâs Perth Mint has been releasing coin series representing the years of of the Chinese Zodiac for 25 years. Two series have already completed with 12 coins each. These little mice (representing 2020, the year of the rat) are the first release in in the Perth Mintâs third lunar series.
Years of the Rat: 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020
According to chinesezodiac.com:
The Rat symbolizes such character traits as wit, imagination and curiosity. Rats have keen observation skills and with those skills theyâre able to deduce much about other people and other situations. Overall, Rats are full of energy, talkative and charming.
The coin itself is 1oz of .9999 pure silver. It has a face value of $1 AUD with an image of Queen Elizabeth on its obverse side. The reverse depicts two mice frolicking on a husk of corn with the Chinese symbol for mouse engraved to the right. The mintage of this coin is capped at 300,000.
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Item Two:
Great Britain Queenâs Beasts - The White Lion of Mortimer
The White Lion of Mortimer is the eighth coin in what will be a ten coin series. These coins, known collectively as the Queenâs Beasts, are issued by Great Britainâs Royal Mint. They are based off of 10 statues that were present at the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. These statues, and now coins, represent different royal lines of the Queenâs ancestry.
Earlier releases in the series include:
- The Lion of England
- The Griffin of Edward III
- The Red Dragon of Wales
- The Unicorn of Scotland
- The Black Bull of Clarence
- The Falcon of the Plantagenets
- The Yale of Beaufort
Remaining in the series are:
- The White Horse of Hanover
- The White Greyhound of Richmond
The Queenâs Beasts coin are minted in a variety of weights and metals. My coin is the 2oz silver version. It has a purity of .9999 and a ÂŁ5 face value.