{"id":20276,"date":"2026-10-05T05:44:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T04:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/glossary\/bullion\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T07:46:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T06:46:55","slug":"bullion","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/glossary\/bullion\/","title":{"rendered":"Bullion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mrf-gl\"><p class=\"gl-def\">Bullion is precious metal in a standard, high-purity form, such as bars, wafers or coins, bought and sold for its metal content rather than its design or rarity. Its price follows the spot price plus a premium.<\/p><aside class=\"panel gl-live\"><p class=\"gl-live-h\">\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa Today in Australia<\/p><div class=\"gl-row\"><span>Gold, 1 troy ounce (spot)<\/span><b>A$5,993<\/b><\/div><div class=\"gl-row\"><span>Cheapest 1 oz gold coin: <a href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/product\/1-oz-kangaroo-gold-coin\/\">1 oz Kangaroo Gold Coin<\/a><\/span><b>A$6,182<\/b> <small>+3.2% premium<\/small><\/div><p class=\"gl-src\">Data as of 05.10.2026, updated daily.<\/p><a class=\"btn primary\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/cheapest-gold-coins\/\">Compare gold coin prices \u203a<\/a><\/aside><div class=\"gl-body\"><h2>What counts as bullion<\/h2><p>Bullion is bought for weight and purity. Three features set it apart from jewellery and collector coins: high <a href=\"fineness}}\">fineness<\/a> (usually 99.9% or 99.99%), a standard weight in troy ounces, grams or kilos, and a price that tracks the <a href=\"spot-price}}\">spot price<\/a> 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.<\/p><h2>Australian bullion coins<\/h2><p>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.<\/p><ul><li><strong>Kangaroo (gold and silver):<\/strong> 99.99% pure, the flagship Perth Mint bullion coin. See the <a href=\"\/au\/categories\/kangaroo-gold-coin\/\">Kangaroo gold coin range<\/a>.<\/li><li><strong>Kookaburra (silver):<\/strong> issued since 1990, with a changing design every year.<\/li><li><strong>Koala (silver):<\/strong> a Perth Mint silver series, popular for gifts as well as stacking.<\/li><li><strong>Lunar Series III (gold and silver):<\/strong> one Chinese zodiac animal per year. The Perth Mint began Australian Lunar coins in 1996; browse the <a href=\"\/au\/categories\/lunar-series-iii\/\">Lunar Series III gold coins<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul><p>Imported coins such as the Maple Leaf and Britannia are also widely stocked by Australian dealers.<\/p><h2>Bars or coins?<\/h2><table><thead><tr><th><\/th><th>Bars<\/th><th>Bullion coins<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Premium over spot<\/td><td>Usually lower, especially at 1 kg<\/td><td>Usually higher per ounce<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Recognition when selling<\/td><td>Good for known refiners<\/td><td>Very high for Kangaroo, Maple, Britannia<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Divisibility<\/td><td>Low for large bars<\/td><td>High, from 1\/10 oz<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Popular sizes in Australia<\/td><td>1 oz, 100 g, 1 kg (gold), 1 kg (silver)<\/td><td>1 oz<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><p>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 <a href=\"premium}}\">premium over spot<\/a> is usually smaller. Coins win on flexibility: you can sell one at a time. Compare both in <a href=\"\/au\/categories\/gold-bars\/\">gold bars<\/a> and our ranking of the <a href=\"\/au\/cheapest-gold-coins\/\">cheapest gold coins in Australia<\/a>, or for silver the <a href=\"\/au\/cheapest-silver-coins\/\">cheapest silver coins<\/a>.<\/p><p>Proof and coloured versions of the same designs are collector items, not bullion; see <a href=\"numismatic}}\">numismatic coins<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><h2>Related terms<\/h2><p class=\"gl-chips\"><a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/glossary\/premium-over-spot\/\">Premium Over Spot<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/glossary\/fineness\/\">Fineness<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/glossary\/numismatic-coins\/\">Numismatic Coins<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/glossary\/spot-price\/\">Spot Price<\/a><\/p><section class=\"mrf-faq\"><h2>FAQ<\/h2><div class=\"faq-list\"><details open><summary><h3>What is the most popular bullion coin in Australia?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>The Perth Mint's Kangaroo is the best-known Australian gold bullion coin, alongside the silver Kookaburra, Koala and Lunar coins.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Is bullion GST-free in Australia?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>Gold of at least 99.5%, silver of at least 99.9% and platinum of at least 99% in investment form is sold without GST.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Are bars cheaper than coins?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>Per ounce, larger bars usually carry a lower premium over spot than coins, but coins are easier to sell in small amounts.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section><details class=\"gl-src-list\"><summary>Sources<\/summary><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.perthmint.com\/shop\/bullion\/bullion-coins\/australian-kangaroo-2026-1oz-gold-bullion-coin\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Perth Mint: Australian Kangaroo 1oz Gold Bullion Coin<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.perthmint.com\/shop\/themes\/lunar\/australian-lunar-series-iii\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Perth Mint: Australian Lunar Series III<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ga.gov.au\/digital-publication\/aimr2022\/world-rankings\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Geoscience Australia: Australia&#039;s Identified Mineral Resources, world rankings<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.au\/C2004A00446\/latest\/text\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999, ss 38-385, 40-100 and 195-1 (Federal Register of Legislation)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ato.gov.au\/law\/view\/pdf\/pbr\/gstr2003-010.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ATO, Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2003\/10: What is precious metal?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/details><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":20236,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20276","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/"},"comment_info":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20276"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20364,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20276\/revisions\/20364"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}