Bullion

What counts as bullion

Bullion is bought for weight and purity. Three features set it apart from jewellery and collector coins: high fineness (usually 99.9% or 99.99%), a standard weight in troy ounces, grams or kilos, and a price that tracks the spot price closely. In Australia the GST Act uses similar tests: investment-form gold of at least 99.5%, silver of at least 99.9% and platinum of at least 99% is sold without GST.

Australian bullion coins

Australia is one of the world's largest gold producers, and The Perth Mint, owned by the Western Australian government, turns much of that output into coins and bars. Its bullion coins are Australian legal tender under the Currency Act 1965, with a face value far below the metal value.

• Kangaroo (gold and silver): 99.99% pure, the flagship Perth Mint bullion coin. See the Kangaroo gold coin range.
• Kookaburra (silver): issued since 1990, with a changing design every year.
• Koala (silver): a Perth Mint silver series, popular for gifts as well as stacking.
• Lunar Series III (gold and silver): one Chinese zodiac animal per year. The Perth Mint began Australian Lunar coins in 1996; browse the Lunar Series III gold coins.

Imported coins such as the Maple Leaf and Britannia are also widely stocked by Australian dealers.

Bars or coins?

Worked example: a 1 kg cast gold bar holds 32.15 troy oz. To buy the same gold in 1 oz coins you would need 32 coins plus change, each carrying its own minting cost. Bars spread that cost over more metal, which is why their premium over spot is usually smaller. Coins win on flexibility: you can sell one at a time. Compare both in gold bars and our ranking of the cheapest gold coins in Australia, or for silver the cheapest silver coins.

Proof and coloured versions of the same designs are collector items, not bullion; see numismatic coins.