1 oz Super Pit Gold Coin

Perth Mint's Tribute to Kalgoorlie's Super Pit

The 1 oz Super Pit Gold Coin is an annual bullion coin from the Perth Mint commemorating the Fimiston Open Pit, known colloquially as the "Super Pit," one of Australia's largest open-pit gold mines located near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The series launched in 2019, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the mine's creation as a consolidated open-pit operation.

Each coin contains one troy ounce of .9999 fine gold with a face value of AUD $100, struck as Australian legal tender under the Currency Act 1965. Gold mintages are tighter than the Perth Mint's flagship 1 oz Kangaroo, typically between 5,000 and 15,000 pieces per year, placing the Super Pit in the collectible bullion tier rather than the mass-market category.

The series is thematically unusual among world bullion coins. Most bullion programmes depict fauna, flora, or national symbols. The Super Pit depicts a working industrial gold mine: haul trucks, excavators, stepped pit walls, and the industrial landscape of modern gold extraction. The Fimiston Open Pit itself is enormous, stretching 3.5 km long, 1.5 km wide, and over 600 metres deep, visible from space and a major tourist attraction in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder region.

The mine's history connects directly to Australia's gold rush heritage. Paddy Hannan's gold discovery on 14 June 1893 set off the Coolgardie-Kalgoorlie rush, and the area was originally a honeycomb of underground shafts before consolidation into a single open pit in 1989. The mine is now operated by Northern Star Resources and produces approximately 700,000 ounces of gold per year, making the coin a tribute to an active operation that literally produces the metal it is made from.

Super Pit 1 oz Gold Coin Specifications

The reverse design changes annually, with each year depicting a different perspective of the mining operation. The 2019 inaugural design by Lucas Bowers showed the pit viewed from the rim at sunrise. The 2022 edition featured a Komatsu excavator and headframe tower. The 2024 design by Sean Rogers depicted the industrial mining landscape and carried a special P125 mintmark celebrating the Perth Mint's 125th anniversary (founded 1899). The 2024 coin also transitioned to the King Charles III obverse designed by Dan Thorne.

The Perth Mint's standard micro-laser engraved authentication mark appears on the reverse, detectable under magnification. This is the same anti-counterfeiting technology used across the Perth Mint's bullion range.

A companion 1 oz silver Super Pit is produced annually with a mintage of 100,000 and an AUD $1 face value. A 5 oz gold version was also minted for the 2023 release.

Super Pit Tax Treatment by Country

Australia

Gold coins of .995 or higher purity are GST-exempt in Australia as investment-grade precious metals. The Super Pit qualifies at .9999 purity. The companion silver version (also .9999 purity) is GST-exempt under the same rule, as it meets the .999 threshold for investment-grade silver. Capital gains on disposal are taxable, with a 50% CGT discount for individuals who hold the coins for more than 12 months.

United Kingdom

Gold coins meeting the investment gold criteria (legal tender, post-1800, purity .900+) are VAT-exempt. The Super Pit qualifies as Australian legal tender with .9999 purity. It is not CGT-exempt in the UK; that exemption applies only to UK legal tender coins such as the Britannia and Sovereign. The silver Super Pit may be available under the margin scheme through UK dealers that import pre-owned stock.

United States

No federal sales tax on gold. State-level exemptions vary across approximately 35 exempt states, 10 taxing states, and 5 with threshold-based partial exemptions. The .9999 purity and Australian legal tender status meet IRA eligibility requirements under Section 408(m).

Canada

Gold of .995+ purity is exempt from GST/HST. The .9999 purity qualifies.

Singapore

GST-exempt under the IPM scheme for qualifying gold of .995+ purity.

Hong Kong

No sales tax, no import duty, no capital gains tax on gold bullion.

Super Pit vs Perth Mint and International Gold Coins

The most immediate comparison is to the Perth Mint's own 1 oz Gold Kangaroo, the mint's flagship bullion coin with unlimited annual mintage. Both share .9999 purity, Australian legal tender status, and the Perth Mint's micro-laser authentication technology. The difference is positioning: the Kangaroo is a mass-market bullion coin designed for the lowest possible premium, while the Super Pit's 5,000-15,000 mintage creates scarcity that supports collector premiums.

For a buyer purely accumulating gold at minimal cost, the Kangaroo is the better product. For a buyer who values annual design variety and the potential for numismatic appreciation on earlier releases, the Super Pit offers something the Kangaroo does not. The 2019 inaugural year, in particular, has appreciated on the secondary market as the first issue in the series.

Against the 1 oz Krugerrand, the Super Pit shares a gold-mining heritage theme. The Krugerrand was created in 1967 to market South African gold, and Paul Kruger's portrait connects to the South African gold rush era. The Super Pit's depiction of a modern, operating mine is more industrial and less historical, but both coins draw meaning from the extraction of the metal they contain. The Krugerrand has incomparably greater global liquidity and brand recognition.

The mining theme makes the Super Pit distinctive among world bullion. No other major sovereign mint produces an annual series celebrating an active gold mine. Coins depicting eagles, kangaroos, maples, and national coats of arms are abundant. A coin depicting the industrial reality of gold production, the haul trucks and stepped pit walls of an enormous open-cut operation, occupies a unique thematic space in the bullion market.