Australian Striped Marlin Silver

Perth Mint's Breakout Marlin Design in Silver

The Australian Striped Marlin is a single-year issue from Perth Mint, released in 2020 across three metals simultaneously: silver (1 oz and 1.5 oz), gold (1/4 oz), and platinum (1/3 oz). The silver versions are struck in .9999 fine silver, and the series is notable for designer Ing Ing Jong's three-dimensional breakout effect, where the marlin's bill and dorsal fin pierce through the circular border of the coin.

The 1.5 oz silver format is deliberately non-standard. Perth Mint chose this weight to provide a larger canvas for the detailed marine design while differentiating from the crowded one-ounce market, where dozens of sovereign mint coins compete. The coin measures 40.6mm in diameter at 5mm thick, making it physically larger and heavier than a standard ounce, with a distinctly different feel in hand. A conventional 1oz Silver Kangaroo at 3mm thick is noticeably thinner by comparison.

The Striped Marlin (Kajikia audax) is one of the fastest fish in the ocean, capable of speeds exceeding 80 km/h. Found throughout the Indo-Pacific, it is a prized catch for Australian sport fishers and a natural subject for Perth Mint's marine wildlife programme. The coin's reverse captures the animal mid-leap, breaking through the water's surface at a sharp angle with its characteristic tall dorsal fin fully extended. The designer's initials "IIJ" are incorporated into the marlin's tail.

As a single-year issue with a mintage cap of 75,000 for the silver versions, the Striped Marlin is scarcer on the secondary market than Perth Mint's recurring annual series. Once the initial allocation sold through authorised dealers, secondary market availability became the only source, and premiums have reflected this limited supply.

Striped Marlin Denominations and Specifications

All versions are legal tender of Australia under the Australian Currency Act 1965. The obverse carries the Jody Clark portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, with weight, purity, face value, and year inscriptions. The Perth Mint "P" mintmark appears on the reverse alongside the designer's initials. A 1/4 oz gold proof version was also produced as a separate collector edition.

Tax Treatment for the Silver Striped Marlin

The Striped Marlin is Australian legal tender from a government-owned mint, which determines its tax treatment in most markets. The .9999 purity across silver and gold versions exceeds the thresholds set by most countries for investment-grade precious metals.

• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade legal tender. Perth Mint is owned by the Government of Western Australia, and all its legal tender coins at 99.9%+ purity are exempt from the 10% GST.
• United States: No federal sales tax. The .9999 silver purity satisfies IRS requirements for precious metals IRA eligibility. State sales tax exemptions apply in the majority of states.
• United Kingdom: The gold version qualifies for VAT exemption as investment gold (sovereign legal tender at .9999 purity). Silver and platinum versions are subject to 20% VAT. None of the versions qualify for CGT exemption, which is reserved for UK legal tender coins such as the Silver Britannia.
• Canada: GST/HST-exempt. The .9999 purity exceeds the 99.9% threshold for investment bullion under the Excise Tax Act.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt as fine silver at .9999 purity (above the 99.9% threshold). No capital gains tax applies.
• Singapore: GST-exempt as Investment Precious Metals. The coin meets both the purity requirement (99.9%+ for silver) and the legal tender requirement.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax, VAT, or import duties on precious metals.

Striped Marlin vs Other Perth Mint Silver and Marine-Themed Coins

The Striped Marlin sits in a niche within Perth Mint's wider catalogue. As a single-year issue, it lacks the ongoing collector community that builds around annual series like the Kookaburra or Koala, both of which have decades of annual releases behind them. On the other hand, the one-off nature means the Striped Marlin will never have its supply diluted by future years of the same design.

The 1.5 oz silver format places the Marlin in a small category of non-standard-weight sovereign coins. The Royal Canadian Mint has used the same weight for some of its collector series, but few other mints produce bullion at this size. For buyers who prefer standardised weights for stacking and easy valuation, the 1 oz version is more practical. For those attracted to the larger format and distinctive heft, the 1.5 oz offers something different from the hundreds of one-ounce options on the market.

The .9999 purity is a Perth Mint signature that several competitors do not match. The American Silver Eagle is struck at .999 fine, and many other sovereign coins use the same standard. The difference is functionally negligible for investment purposes, but .9999 purity does qualify the Marlin for certain tax-advantaged accounts that require the higher standard.

The platinum version (1/3 oz, .9995 fine, 25,000 mintage) is particularly scarce. Platinum bullion coins are produced by very few mints, and Perth Mint is one of the only sources for fractional platinum at non-standard weights. Buyers interested in platinum exposure outside the mainstream Platinum Philharmonic or Platinum Maple Leaf may find the Marlin's platinum edition worth investigating on the secondary market.