Straight From the Opal Mine

Today we're going to look at some fancy high premium coins. The opal Lunar Rooster from the Perth Mint. It has a low mintage of 5000 coins and a unique natural opal inlay in shape of a rooster.

Display Case

The display case is made of a leather-like texture, most likely faux-leather. It features at the bottom right an indentation of the Perth Mint swan. The build quality is very solid, and comparable to a quality jewelry box. It has a very snappy mechanism and stays open without any jiggle room. If you open the display case, you might be surprised to find a light.

The Perth Mint took the term display box very literal and integrated a light sensor along with a tiny LED light inside the box. So every time you open the box, a small light shines down on your coin.

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Obverse

The obverse of this coin is very beautiful. At the center, you have the rooster as a glitter opal inlay. Depending on the angle and light the opal inlay shows an impressive blaze of colour. The colours range from bright green to red, blue and a deep purple. Around this display, the coins feature an intricate design of leaves and blades of grass. At the top, this design makes room for the inscription "YEAR OF THE ROOSTER". Around this display, an oriental pattern finishes the obverse of the coin.

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Reverse

The reverse shows the usual theme for Perth Mint coins. Queen Elizabeth II. She's depicted inside a circle surrounded by a radial design. A spotless mirror finish completes it.

Conclusion

Usually, I'm not the biggest fan of inlays on coins. Most Swarovski inlays look cheesy and weird. But in case of the Australian Opal Lunar series, the designers outdid themselves. The design is very well integrated into the coin. Even though you pay a hefty premium on the Opal Series, you definitely get a beautiful coin. And while writing this post I noticed that there are non-lunar designs in the Australian Opal series as well. My poor silver budget...

Do you like the Lunar Rooster series as well, or are you not a fan of high premium coins?

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When silver and gems come into play, dragons get very possessive.