New million dollar coin weighs in


  • From: AAP October 27, 2011 2:24PM

THE biggest, heaviest and inherently most valuable gold coin in the world has been unveiled by the Perth Mint.
Weighing 1012kg, it is more than a tonne of 99.99 per cent pure gold worth more than $53.5 million.

The giant coin is 80cm wide, 12cm deep, took 18 months to create and features a bounding red kangaroo on one side and the Queen's motif on the other.

It is Australian legal tender and has a denomination of $1 million - well below its gold value.



The world's biggest gold coin is one tonne of
99.99% pure gold, nearly 80cms wide and
more than 12cms deep.
Source:
PerthNow


Perth Mint chief executive Ed Harbuz said the coin was "the pinnacle of ingenuity and innovation''.

"To cast and handcraft a coin of this size and weight was an incredible challenge - one which few other mints would even consider,'' he said.

Mr Harbuz said the coin was a showpiece of the Australian kangaroo gold bullion coin program, and would coincide with the release of a number of smaller gold coins this week.

The weight and purity of each issue is guaranteed by the West Australian government.

New million dollar coin weighs in | Perth Now