1 oz Golden State Mint Lunar Silver Round

The 1 oz Golden State Mint Lunar Silver Round

The Golden State Mint Lunar series puts the Chinese Zodiac on a budget. Each year, the US private mint releases a new .999 fine silver round featuring that year's zodiac animal, working through all twelve signs: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. The 2025 release is the Year of the Snake and 2026 brings the Year of the Horse. The programme is currently on "Lunar Series III", meaning GSM has been producing these through at least three 12-year zodiac cycles, making it one of the longer-running private mint lunar programmes.

The pitch is the zodiac theme at near-bullion prices. As a private mint round with no face value and no legal tender status, the GSM Lunar avoids the sovereign-mint premium that government lunar coins carry. Silver rounds generally trade at 5-10% over spot, between bars and government coins, and the GSM series competes squarely on that price advantage against the Perth Mint Lunar and other legal tender lunar lines.

The trade-off is the standard round-versus-coin bargain: lower entry cost, weaker secondary market. Golden State Mint is an established name among US private mints, so resale to North American dealers is straightforward, but the rounds recover less premium at exit than government coins and lack any collector-driven secondary market of comparable depth. For stackers who like an annual design change without paying coin premiums, that is an acceptable deal.

GSM Lunar Round Specifications

The obverse changes annually with the zodiac animal; the 2025 Year of the Snake design shows a snake periscoping through a bamboo forest, bamboo being a traditional Chinese symbol of strength and resilience, with the Chinese character for snake embossed alongside and the rim carrying the year, purity, and mint name. The reverse is shared across the whole series: the twelve zodiac animals arranged in a circle, each representing a month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

The series also runs in 2 oz and 5 oz silver weights, sizes the sovereign lunar programmes do not always offer, plus copper versions at lower cost for casual collectors. There is no dedicated anti-counterfeiting technology; the GSM branding, reeded edge, and design detail provide the counterfeit resistance, supplemented by the usual checks of weight, dimensions, and the magnet slide test.

Tax on Silver Rounds by Country

Rounds receive the same tax treatment as silver bars everywhere; the legal tender distinction that benefits coins in some jurisdictions never applies to private mint rounds.

• US: The primary market for this product. No federal sales tax, and .999 silver rounds qualify for exemption in most states that exempt precious metals. Long-term gains are taxed at the collectibles rate of up to 28%. The rounds are IRA-approved: .999 fine silver meets the IRA purity requirement.
• UK: 20% VAT on purchase and no CGT exemption, since rounds are not legal tender. UK buyers get neither of the advantages that make silver Britannias workable, which is why GSM rounds are rarely stocked by UK dealers.
• EU: Full local VAT at standard rates (17-27%); the margin scheme only helps with second-hand stock.
• Canada: 0% GST/HST for silver at 99.9%+ purity, which .999 rounds satisfy.
• Australia: GST-free at 99.9%+ purity, though Perth Mint's own lunar coins dominate that market locally.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt at 99.9%+ purity; no general capital gains tax.
• Singapore and Hong Kong: No purchase tax and no capital gains tax.

GSM Lunar vs Sovereign Lunar Coins

The benchmark is the Perth Mint Lunar series: government-minted, legal tender, higher production values, and a much stronger secondary market, all reflected in significantly higher premiums. The Royal Mint's Shengxiao lunar series adds UK CGT exemption for British buyers, and the Royal Canadian Mint's lunar issues offer .9999 purity with Canadian legal tender status. Every one of those costs more per ounce than the GSM round; that premium buys liquidity and status the private round cannot match.

Within the private mint lunar space, APMEX produces its own branded lunar rounds competing directly with GSM, and Asahi Refining makes lunar rounds that GSM itself sells on its own website, an odd arrangement where the mint retails a competitor's product alongside its own. Between private rounds the differences are modest; brand recognition and the specific year's design drive choice more than specs, since all are .999 silver at similar premiums.

The wider decision is whether the zodiac theme is worth anything at all over generic silver. A plain 1 oz silver round such as a Buffalo costs slightly less than a design series round, while silver bars undercut both for pure weight accumulation. The GSM Lunar earns its small premium only if the annual designs and the completable 12-year set appeal; as pure metal, cheaper routes exist.