2 oz Perth Mint Kangaroo Silver Coin

The Kangaroo in a Double-Ounce Silver Format

The 2 oz Perth Mint Kangaroo silver coin carries Australia's best-known bullion design in a heavier format than the standard 1 oz coin. The Kangaroo series comes from the Perth Mint, the government-owned bullion mint of Western Australia established in 1899 and accredited by the LBMA. Its silver Kangaroo line launched in 2016 as the mint's first 1 oz .9999 silver bullion coin, and the debut year produced over 11.2 million coins, a record for a contemporary Australian precious metal coin. This 2 oz version contains 62.21 grams of .9999 fine silver.

Two troy ounces is a relatively modern bullion weight rather than a traditional standard. Its appeal is more about the coin format than cost efficiency: per-ounce premiums on 2 oz sovereign silver coins are broadly comparable to 1 oz coins, sometimes slightly lower, but the format does not deliver the premium discount of a 10 oz silver bar. The larger flan gives more room for detailed artwork, which is why the weight is dominated by design-led series from the Royal Mint and Perth Mint.

The draw here is the combination of sovereign backing, four-nines purity and the Kangaroo's recognition across the Asia-Pacific region, where the Perth Mint's proximity has made the series a popular choice in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. Buyers who simply want the cheapest silver per ounce should look at larger bars; buyers who want legal tender coins with a heavier hand-feel than 1 oz are the audience for this format.

2 oz Silver Kangaroo Specifications

Perth Mint bullion Kangaroos carry a micro-laser engraved letter on the reverse, detectable only under magnification. The feature debuted with the 2016 silver bullion release, where the letter "A" was placed within the first "A" of "AUSTRALIAN", and is applied across the mint's gold, silver and platinum bullion Kangaroo coins. The Perth Mint has no coin-level digital authentication system comparable to the Royal Canadian Mint's Bullion DNA; verification relies on the micro-engraving, the "P" mintmark and physical checks of weight and dimensions. The reverse design typically shows a bounding or resting red kangaroo with stylised rays of sunlight, alongside "AUSTRALIAN KANGAROO", the weight, purity and year-date.

Tax on the 2 oz Silver Kangaroo by Country

Silver is taxed far less kindly than gold in several markets, so where you buy matters more than for gold Kangaroos.

• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade silver, which requires at least 99.9% purity; the .9999 Kangaroo qualifies. CGT applies on disposal, with a 50% discount for individuals holding over 12 months.
• UK: 20% VAT on new silver bullion. Pre-owned coins sold under the VAT margin scheme avoid most of this, with VAT charged only on the dealer's margin. Not CGT-exempt, since it is not UK legal tender.
• US: No federal sales tax; most states exempt bullion while some tax it or apply purchase thresholds. IRA-eligible, as .9999 silver exceeds the 99.9% requirement of IRS Section 408(m).
• Canada: GST/HST exempt, since silver refined to at least 99.9% purity in coin form qualifies federally.
• EU: Full local VAT on silver, typically 17-27% depending on the country, with margin scheme exceptions for pre-owned coins in Germany and the Netherlands.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt as fine silver at or above 99.9% purity.
• Singapore and Hong Kong: No GST on qualifying investment silver in Singapore, no sales tax at all in Hong Kong, and no capital gains tax in either.

From Gold Nugget to National Icon

The Kangaroo series launched in 1986 as the Australian Gold Nugget, with reverse designs featuring famous Australian gold nuggets such as the Welcome Stranger and the Hand of Faith. From 1989 the reverse switched to kangaroo motifs, a more internationally recognisable symbol, and the series gradually became known as the Australian Kangaroo. It is one of very few government bullion series that changes its reverse design annually, a trait it shares with the Chinese Panda.

Silver arrived late. The Royal Canadian Mint had been striking bullion silver since 1988 and the US Mint since 1986, but the Perth Mint only introduced the silver bullion Kangaroo in 2016. The late entry proved a commercial success, with more than 10 million coins produced in the first year. The 2016 release also introduced the mint's micro-laser engraved security letter.

The obverse has tracked the monarchy: Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II from 1986, Ian Rank-Broadley's from 1999, Jody Clark's from 2019, and Dan Thorne's effigy of King Charles III from 2024. The series' most famous moment came in 2011, when the Perth Mint struck a one-tonne gold Kangaroo, 80 cm across and 12 cm thick, legal tender at A$1,000,000 and still the largest gold coin in the world. It remains on permanent display at the mint. 2026 marks the series' 40th anniversary, with gold coins carrying a special nugget privy mark honouring its origins.

2 oz Silver Kangaroo vs Tudor Beasts, Lunar and 1 oz Alternatives

At the 2 oz silver weight, the main rivals are the Royal Mint's beast series and the Perth Mint's own themed coins. The Royal Mint made 2 oz a mainstream silver bullion weight with the Queen's Beasts (2016-2021, ten designs, now secondary market only) and continues it with the Tudor Beasts series (2023-present). Both are .9999 silver like the Kangaroo, and both are CGT-exempt for UK taxpayers as UK legal tender, an advantage the Kangaroo cannot match for British buyers. The Perth Mint's Lunar and Koala 2 oz coins offer rotating annual designs with limited-mintage collector appeal.

Against its own 1 oz sibling, the 1 oz silver Kangaroo, the 2 oz coin offers a larger canvas and fewer pieces to store per ounce, but no meaningful premium saving; the 1 oz coin is the more liquid unit, sold in tamper-sealed tubes of 25.

Compared with the wider sovereign silver field, the Kangaroo's .9999 purity matches the Canadian Maple Leaf and exceeds the .999 American Silver Eagle, though the Maple Leaf carries more advanced security features and stronger North American liquidity, while the Kangaroo is the stronger seller across Asia-Pacific. Note that neither the US Mint nor the Royal Canadian Mint produces a standard 2 oz bullion coin at all, so buyers committed to this weight are effectively choosing between the Royal Mint and the Perth Mint.