1/10 oz Perth Mint Kangaroo Gold Coin

The 1/10 oz Gold Kangaroo: Small Coin, Full Purity

The 1/10 oz gold Kangaroo is the Perth Mint's entry-level fractional gold coin, struck in the same .9999 fine gold as the flagship 1oz gold Kangaroo and carrying a $15 AUD face value. At 3.11 grams it sits at the smallest commonly produced fractional weight, the standard gateway size that every major mint offers for low-cost entry into gold ownership, gifting, and maximum divisibility.

The Kangaroo brings two things to the tenth-ounce class that most rivals do not. First, the reverse design changes every year, so a small fractional purchase still gets the annual kangaroo motif that defines the series; among major bullion programs only the Chinese Panda shares that trait. Second, the four-nines purity exceeds the 22-karat 1/10 oz Krugerrand and American Eagle, which matters in jurisdictions where tax exemptions hinge on purity thresholds, notably New Zealand and the US IRA rules.

The economics of the weight class apply in full. Tenth-ounce gold coins carry the highest relative premiums of any standard bullion weight, because die work, quality control and packaging cost nearly as much as for a 1 oz coin but are spread over a tenth of the gold. Accumulating a full ounce through ten tenth-ounce coins costs roughly $400 more than buying one 1 oz coin, and bid-ask spreads at resale are the widest of any fractional size. The 1/10 oz Kangaroo is therefore best treated as what it is: a divisibility and gifting coin from an LBMA-accredited government mint, not the cheap way to build a position. Buyers prioritising cost per gram should step up the quarter-ounce and half-ounce rungs instead.

1/10 oz Gold Kangaroo Specifications

The 1/10 oz coin is the second-smallest denomination in the gold Kangaroo range, which runs from 1/20 oz to 1 kg.

At 16.1 mm across, the coin is genuinely tiny, comparable to the smallest coins in everyday circulation, so capsules or tubes are essential to avoid loss or damage. Like every bullion Kangaroo it carries the Perth Mint's micro-laser engraved letter, detectable only under magnification, plus the 'P' mintmark. The reverse shows the year's kangaroo design with weight, purity and date; the obverse has carried King Charles III's effigy by Dan Thorne since 2024. The mintage is unlimited, produced to demand, and the same design appears across the denomination ladder from 1/2 oz down to the 1/20 oz coin.

1/10 oz Gold Kangaroo Tax Treatment

The Kangaroo's .9999 purity gives the tenth-ounce coin the same clean tax profile as its larger siblings, and at this size the purity distinction against 22-karat rivals is worth real money in some markets.

• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade gold (99.5%+ purity). CGT applies on disposal with a 50% discount after a 12-month hold.
• UK: VAT-free as investment gold, but not CGT-exempt; that exemption is reserved for UK legal tender coins. The 1/10 oz Britannia is the comparable CGT-free fractional for UK buyers.
• USA: IRA-eligible at .9999 fine when held with an approved custodian. Most states exempt bullion from sales tax, though some state exemptions carry minimum transaction thresholds (for example $1,000 in New York and Massachusetts, $2,000 in California) that a single tenth-ounce coin may not reach on its own, so small fractional orders can be taxed where a 1 oz coin would not be. Gains are taxed at the collectibles rate of up to 28%.
• Canada: GST/HST-exempt as 99.5%+ pure gold in coin form.
• EU: VAT-exempt as investment gold; the directive covers legal tender gold coins of 900+ thousandths purity.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt, since the coin clears the 99.5% gold threshold. The 22-karat 1/10 oz Krugerrand and Eagle attract 15% GST in NZ, making the Kangaroo one of the tax-clean fractional picks there.
• Singapore and Hong Kong: GST-exempt in Singapore as qualifying investment gold; Hong Kong has no sales tax. Neither taxes capital gains.

1/10 oz Kangaroo vs Eagle, Britannia and Maple Leaf

The 1/10 oz American Gold Eagle is the world's most popular fractional gold coin and the liquidity benchmark for this weight, with $5 face value and 22-karat composition. In the US it is the easier coin to sell, and tenth-ounce Eagle premiums of 10-18% over spot illustrate what this weight class costs regardless of brand. The Kangaroo counters with .9999 purity and the annual design change, plus better placement in Asia-Pacific markets where Perth Mint product is the local standard.

The 1/10 oz Britannia matches the Kangaroo's four-nines purity and is the decisive pick for UK taxpayers: as UK legal tender it is CGT-exempt, the lowest-cost entry into CGT-free gold. The Kangaroo cannot match that in the UK, where it also tends to have thinner dealer coverage. Outside the UK the two are close substitutes, differentiated mainly by the Kangaroo's yearly designs against the Britannia's laser-etched security features.

The 1/10 oz Maple Leaf is the other .9999 option, backed by the Royal Canadian Mint's anti-counterfeiting program and strong North American liquidity. As at the 1 oz weight, Kangaroos typically carry slightly higher premiums than Maple Leafs, with the design variety as compensation.

One step further down the ladder sits the 1/20 oz size, which the Perth Mint also strikes. Premiums there run higher still, often 15-25% or more, with limited liquidity; the tenth-ounce coin is generally the smallest weight worth buying for anything other than novelty. Buyers comparing across the series will find the same annual design on the 1/4 oz gold Kangaroo at a meaningfully lower premium per gram.