Photo Credit: APMEX
1987 Australian Gold Nugget Proof Set
Buy It Now Price: $2,731.05 (price as of 2018; item no longer available)
Pros:
-Here is a stately 1987 Australian Gold Nugget proof set containing four coins – 1, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 troy ounce sizes – with a total gold content of 1.85 troy ounces.
-This set is a proof version of the immensely popular Australian Gold Nugget/Kangaroo bullion series of coins. Modern proof coins are carefully struck to very exacting standards in order to ensure mirror-like surfaces and maximum detail.
-The obverse of the coins has a bust of Queen Elizabeth II while the reverse has a series of famous Australian gold nuggets. Australia, along with the Alaska-British Columbia complex, is the world’s most prolific producer of natural gold nuggets.
-The 1 troy ounce proof coin features the 953 troy ounce Poseidon nugget, discovered in 1906 in Tarnagulla, Victoria. The 1/2 troy ounce proof coin depicts the Bobby Dazzler nugget, found in 1899 in Sharks Gully, Western Australia. The 1/4 troy ounce proof coin shows the 199 troy ounce Father’s Day nugget, discovered in 1979 in Ophir, New South Wales. The 1/10 troy ounce proof coin portrays the 200 troy ounce Golden Aussie nugget, found in 1980 in Western Australia.
-The mintage for the 1987 Australian Gold Nugget proof set was only 11,002 specimens. This may seem like a lot until you realize that Australian coins for general circulation regularly have mintages in the tens of millions per year. Even non-proof, 1 troy ounce Australian Nugget/Kangaroo gold bullion coins usually have mintages of well over 100,000 per annum.
-This 1987 Australian Gold Nugget proof set comes in its original, solid Jarrah wood box! The Jarrah is a type of Eucalyptus tree (scientific name: Eucalyptus marginata) native to Australia. In addition to having a rich reddish-tone and beautifully figured grain-pattern, Jarrah wood is also remarkably tough and rot resistant. I believe the Jarrah wood case significantly enhances the desirability and value of this set.
-Like all Australian bullion coins, this set was struck at the Perth Mint, which is 100% owned by the Government of Western Australia. Originally established in 1899 as a branch of the London Royal Mint, the Perth Mint was created to refine and strike coins from gold mined in the newly discovered Western Australian goldfields.
-I am a firm believer that vintage gold bullion proof sets from the 1980s and 1990s represent exceptional value for the tangible asset investor. I previously showcased a lovely 1985 British gold sovereign proof set that shares a very similar risk-reward profile to this 1987 Australian Gold Nugget proof set.
-With the spot price of gold trading at $1,316, this 1987 Australian Gold Nugget proof set contains $2,434 worth of gold. At the buy-it-now price of $2,731, this represents a modest premium only 12.2%. Because this set is less than $300 above melt value, you are assuming very little numismatic risk if you opt to purchase it.
Cons:
-Ironically, Australian Gold Nugget bullion coins only featured gold nuggets for a short period of time, from 1986 to 1989. After that, the series switched to kangaroos on the reverse of the coin. Because of this, the early gold nugget version is less well recognized than its more modern counterpart with the kangaroo. Although this could conceivably impact future demand (and therefore, price), I see it as being a very minor issue.
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