The 1996 One Ounce Gold Year of the Rat Coin is from the very first edition of The Perth Mint's Lunar Coin Series.
These Australian gold bullion coins are beautifully designed and struck to a high quality finish. Each 24 carat gold coin comes in a protective capsule.
The issue limit for these collectable coins was officially 30,000, but the declared mintage from the Perth Mint was only 16,593 coins.
The Perth Mint's lunar coins are highly sought after by coin collectors and investors. The Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on a 12 year cycle, each year in the cycle is associated with a different animal. The Perth Mint started issuing series of Chinese Lunar Calendar Coins, in gold and silver, in 1996, which was the Year of the Rat. We rarely manage to buy any of the older years from Series I, which tend to be very hard to source.
It is said that those born under this lunar zodiac sign are thought to be kind, smart, thoughtful and quick witted. Other years of the rat (or mice) include 1972, 1984, 2008 and 2020.
Raphael Maklouf created the third coin portrait of HM The Queen, which appears on the obverse of this coin with the inscription:
ELIZABETH AUSTRALIA·100 DOLLARS·
The reverse shows an inquisitive rat. The Chinese character for rat is in the inscription, alongside:
1996 1OZ 9999 GOLD
Metal | Gold |
Diameter | 39 mm |
Weight / Size | 1 Ounce |
Gold Weight Troy Ounces | 1 |
Fineness / Carat | 0.9999 / 24 |
Mintage Figure | 16,593 |
Issue Limit | 30,000 |
Date | 1996 |
Obverse Designer | Raphael Maklouf |
Reverse Designer | Perth Mint Engravers |
Issuing Monarch | Elizabeth II (1952-2022) |
Mint / Brand | Perth Mint |
Country | Australia |
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Bullion coins are provided as is and on occasion may have some minor scratches or edge knocks. These are not regarded as faulty or damaged goods as their precious metal content and value as a bullion coin is not affected. Any coin sold for a value less than a 180% intrinsic is considered a bullion coin.
Gold investment products are VAT free. Silver investment products are inclusive of VAT at the current rate unless otherwise stated.
All investment products are based on the live precious metal price. Prices will be fixed once the item has been added to the basket and recalculates just before checking out.
If your product is not a graded coin and is considered a bullion item, it should be noted that these are bought and sold on low premiums over their precious metal content and not solely for aesthetic purposes; therefore, some products may have edge knocks and/or marks. These edge knocks and marks do not alter the specifications of the coins.
Please note that all investment products are exempt from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and therefore customers do not have the right to cancel their order once the order has been accepted. If customers no longer wish to go ahead with their investment purchase, there is an option to sell the products back to Chard (1964) Ltd instead. View our current buy back prices.
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