What Are the Top Silver Coins for Investment in Australia?

What are the top silver coins for investment? For Australian buyers, the shortlist is shorter than it looks. A good silver bullion coin is 99.9% or 99.99% pure, comes from a government mint, is easy to sell and carries a premium you can live with. Rarity, colour and special packaging belong to collecting, not investing.

In this guide, we compare the silver coins you will see most often at Australian dealers, with mint specifications, ATO rules and real listings from our silver coin price comparison. You will also see why silver coins cost so much over spot and when a bar may be the better buy.

What Makes a Silver Coin a Good Investment?

A silver bullion coin is a coin valued mainly for its silver content. Before you choose a design, check five things:

• Premium over spot: the extra you pay above the silver value. On silver it can be large.
• Purity and GST: silver must be at least 99.9% fine in investment form to be GST-free precious metal in Australia.
• Issuer: a government mint guarantees the weight and purity.
• Liquidity: how easily a dealer will buy it back.
• Security features: micro-engraving and similar marks make fakes harder.

Why does purity matter so much here? Because the GST threshold for silver (99.9%) is strict. Sterling silver (92.5%) and older coins below 99.9% do not qualify.

Silver Coin Specifications at a Glance

The Top Silver Coins for Australian Investors

1. Australian Silver Kangaroo

The Perth Mint has produced the 1 oz Silver Kangaroo bullion coin since 2016. It is struck in 99.99% silver, carries an A$1 face value, and its kangaroo design changes with each annual release. A micro-engraved security mark on the reverse is visible only under magnification.

• Why buy it: made locally, legal tender in Australia and widely stocked by Australian dealers.
• Watch out for: coloured or special editions sold at collector prices.

Compare Kangaroo silver coin prices and learn how to spot a fake Silver Kangaroo.

2. Australian Silver Kookaburra

The Kookaburra series began in 1990 and features a new kookaburra design each year. According to The Perth Mint, the 2026 1 oz coin is 99.99% silver, has an A$1 face value and a maximum mintage of 500,000. It includes a micro-laser engraved letter as an authentication feature.

• Why buy it: one of the longest-running silver bullion series, popular with buyers who like annual designs.
• Watch out for: early years can trade at collector prices, which you should not pay for bullion.

3. Australian Silver Koala

The Koala shows a new koala design every year. The 2026 1 oz coin is 99.99% silver, A$1 face value, with a maximum mintage of 300,000, according to The Perth Mint. It is a good choice if you want variety within Perth Mint coins.

4. Australian Lunar Series III (Silver)

The Lunar series celebrates the animals of the Chinese zodiac. The 2026 Year of the Horse 1 oz silver coin is 99.99% silver with a maximum mintage of 300,000. Lunar coins are popular in Australia and Asia and often carry a slightly higher premium than the Kangaroo, especially in the release year.

See Lunar Series III silver coin prices.

5. Canadian Silver Maple Leaf

Issued since 1988, the Silver Maple Leaf is 99.99% silver with a C$5 face value. In 2014, the Royal Canadian Mint added radial lines and a micro-engraved maple leaf containing the year of issue, visible under magnification.

• Why buy it: high purity, strong security features and global recognition.
• Watch out for: “milk spots”, white marks that can appear on silver coins and lower their appeal to some buyers.

Compare Maple Leaf silver coin prices.

6. British Silver Britannia

The Silver Britannia has been struck in 99.9% silver since 2013 (earlier coins were 95.8% Britannia silver, below the ATO’s 99.9% line). Since 2021 it includes four security features, among them a latent image where the trident changes to a padlock and micro-text around the design.

Compare Britannia silver coin prices.

7. Austrian Silver Philharmonic

The Silver Philharmonic was introduced in 2008 with a face value of €1.50 and is struck in 99.9% silver. Its design stays the same each year, which some investors prefer because it keeps the focus on the metal.

8. South African Silver Krugerrand

The Rand Refinery first minted silver Krugerrands in 2017 to mark the 50th anniversary of the gold coin. The 1 oz bullion coin is 99.9% silver and has been minted regularly since. In our data, it was one of the cheapest 1 oz silver coins.

9. American Silver Eagle

The Silver Eagle, issued since 1986, is the best-known silver coin in the United States. It is 99.9% silver with a US$1 face value. In Australia, though, it is an imported coin, and in our data it carried the highest premium of any silver coin we tracked.

Learn how to spot a fake American Silver Eagle.

10. Chinese Silver Panda

The Silver Panda has been issued since 1983 with a new design each year. Since 2016 it weighs 30 g instead of one troy ounce, so compare its price per gram with 1 oz coins rather than per coin.

Read also: What Are the Best Gold Coins to Buy in Australia?

What Do Silver Coins Cost Over Spot in Australia?

Silver coins carry much higher premiums than gold coins. Why? Minting, shipping and dealer handling cost a similar amount per coin, but one ounce of silver is worth far less than one ounce of gold. Here is the formula we use:

Premium % = (dealer price − spot value of the silver) / spot value × 100

Supply of coins can tighten even when there is plenty of metal. During the surge in January 2026, The Perth Mint explained:

“[…] we can assure you there is no shortage of silver, it just isn’t in the specific forms being requested by our customers which is putting pressure on manufacturing operations.”

Sawan Tanna, Chief Commercial Officer, The Perth Mint, message “No silver shortage: we’re working hard to meet demand”, January 2026

The table below shows listed prices at Australian dealers in our database on 3 October 2026, compared with the silver spot close of A$87.19 per troy ounce on 2 October 2026. Our Australian data is still limited, so treat this as a snapshot, not an average.

What do these numbers mean in practice?

• Postage can double the pain: A$40 postage on a single A$118 Silver Eagle adds about 46 percentage points to its premium. Buy silver in larger orders.
• Bars can beat coins: the 1 kg bar cost less over spot than any 1 oz coin we tracked.
• Coins from the same dealer differ: the Britannia cost 9.3 points more than the Maple Leaf on the same day.

Thinking about bars instead? Compare 1 kg silver bars and other silver bars.

Silver Price: The Past Year in AUD

Before you buy, it helps to know how much silver can move. Over the 12 months to 2 October 2026, silver rose from A$71.26 to A$87.19 per ounce, a gain of 22.4%. On the way, it more than doubled to A$165.70 on 29 January 2026 and then lost more than half its value by mid-July.

Can you handle a 50% fall without selling? If not, keep silver to a size you are comfortable with. Follow the latest price on our silver price chart or the silver price per gram.

Read also: Gold vs Silver Investments: Which Is Better for Australians?

GST and Tax on Silver Coins in Australia

GST: the 99.9% rule

Under the ATO’s ruling GSTR 2003/10, precious metal includes silver of at least 99.9% fineness in an investment form. A dealer’s sale of precious metal to you is input taxed, so no GST is added.

• all the coins in our specification table meet the 99.9% test,
• Silver Britannias made before 2013 (95.8%) do not,
• sterling silver (92.5%), silverware and jewellery do not.

Capital gains tax

Gains on silver bullion are generally subject to capital gains tax. Individuals who hold for at least 12 months can currently claim the 50% CGT discount, but the government announced in the 2026-27 Budget that it intends to replace it from 1 July 2027. Keep your invoices, and check the ATO’s rules when you sell.

Storing Silver Coins

Silver tarnishes, and it takes up far more space than gold for the same value. A few simple habits protect your coins:

• keep coins in their original tubes or capsules,
• store them somewhere dry, away from rubber bands and some papers that speed up tarnish,
• handle coins by the edges, ideally with gloves,
• never clean or polish a bullion coin.

Read also: What Is the Proper Way to Store Gold? Top Tips for Safe Keeping

Which Silver Coin Should You Choose?

Choose Perth Mint coins (Kangaroo, Kookaburra, Koala) if:

• you want locally made, 99.99% coins that every Australian dealer knows,
• you prefer lower postage and no import costs.

Choose the Lunar series if:

• you like zodiac designs and accept a slightly higher premium.

Choose a Maple Leaf or Krugerrand if:

• you find them at a low premium, as we did on 3 October 2026 (15.5%).

Consider a bar instead if:

• you are buying several kilograms and want the lowest cost per ounce,
• you do not need to sell in small parts.

Common Mistakes When Buying Silver Coins

1. Buying single coins online. Postage can add more than the premium itself.
2. Paying collector prices for bullion. Proof, coloured and early-year coins cost much more than the silver.
3. Assuming famous means cheap. The Silver Eagle was the most expensive coin in our snapshot.
4. Buying low-purity silver. Below 99.9%, the coin is not GST-free precious metal.
5. Ignoring storage. A$10,000 of silver weighed about 3.6 kg at the 2 October 2026 spot price.

Summary: Best Silver Coins to Buy in Australia

Compare Silver Coin Prices Before You Buy

With silver, the premium and postage often matter more than which coin you pick. metalsradar compares prices from Australian bullion dealers and shows the premium over spot for every offer, so you can find the cheapest ounce before you pay.

Check live prices for investment silver, follow the gold/silver ratio, or browse our list of Australian dealers.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment or tax advice.