Australia at Night from Downies debuts on a black proof coin with the strange Platypus

[Sadbuttrue2]

Australian wildlife coins are nothing new, particularly silver ones, but there’s always room for something well done and a little different. We think Downies latest issue fits that bill perfectly. Australia has a quite extraordinary range of species found nowhere elese on Earth, perhaps none more so than the strange platypus. Hardly a rare subject on coins from the region, this one is easily one of the best to date.

Finished in black proof, much like several recent CIT issues, the coin depicts a silver platypus in an aquatic black proof background. The design is quite beautiful and does a great job of showing the platypus in its natural habitat. There are inscriptions present, but they’re kept off the main artwork and placed near the rim in negative space.

The obverse mirrors the look of the reverse face with regards to finish. The effigy of Queen Elizabeth is also kept in clean silver, with the rest of the coin finished as black proof. The coin is struck from one-ounce of fine silver and is issued for Niue. Packaging looks very nice with a coloured outer shipper holding a gloss-black coin box that seems quite appropriate for the subject. A certificate of authenticity is included for each of the 1,000 being minted.

Available from Downies Australia and selling for $169 AUD, this looks to be a fine example of the genre, if not a particularly cheap one. It looks like it’s the first in a series, so one worth keeping an eye on if this first coin is an indicator of the quality on offer. Available to order now from Downies and others like our sponsor Powercoin.

SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION	$1 Australia	$2 Australia
COMPOSITION	0.9999 silver	0.9999 silver
WEIGHT	31.107 grams	62.213 grams
DIMENSIONS	40.6 mm	40.5 mm
FINISH	Bullion	Bullion
MODIFICATIONS	None	High-relief
MINTAGE	50,000	1,500
BOX / COA	No / No	Yes / Yes

 

[orion]

This Niue rubbish is what’s destroying the coin investing community.