5 oz APMEX Lunar Silver Round

The 5 oz APMEX Lunar Silver Round

The APMEX Lunar series is a dealer-branded silver line from APMEX, one of the largest US bullion retailers, built around the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Each year carries the corresponding animal in artwork inspired by Chinese artistic traditions, and the products are "APMEXclusive": struck for APMEX alone and not stocked by other dealers, which means buying new is a single-source affair and secondary-market pieces surface through private sales rather than dealer inventories. The series has run since roughly 2012, long enough to cover a complete zodiac cycle before relaunching as a redesigned Series 2 in 2024.

This piece carries 5 troy ounces (155.5 g) of .999 fine silver. Five ounces is a mid-range weight that steps up from the everyday 1 oz unit without the outlay of a 10 oz product, and at this size the zodiac design gets considerably more canvas than on the standard 1 oz APMEX Lunar round. As a private round it has no face value and no legal tender status; APMEX guarantees the weight and purity of its branded products, but there are no government-backed security features.

The honest trade-off with any dealer-branded round is recognition. Within the US, APMEX's scale makes the series familiar; outside the APMEX ecosystem, liquidity and recognition are lower than for products from sovereign or major private mints. The compensation is price: lunar-themed silver from APMEX costs meaningfully less per ounce than the sovereign-mint lunar coins it visually competes with.

Tax Position of APMEX Lunar Silver by Country

As a non-legal-tender silver product at .999 fine, the round is taxed as investment silver where purity tests govern, with no coin-specific concessions anywhere.

• US: The natural market, since the series is sold exclusively by a US dealer. Most states exempt bullion from sales tax; a minority tax it and several apply thresholds that a 5 oz silver piece may or may not clear depending on spot. Long-term gains are taxed at the 28% collectibles rate. The .999 purity meets the IRS fineness threshold for silver IRAs, but custodian acceptance of dealer-branded rounds varies, and most custodians prefer products from recognised mints.
• UK: 20% VAT on non-legal-tender silver, plus CGT exposure on gains. The series is not commonly stocked by UK dealers, so an import from APMEX adds shipping and potential duty on top.
• Canada: Silver of 99.9%+ purity in qualifying bullion form is GST/HST exempt.
• Australia: Investment-grade silver of 99.9%+ purity in commodity-market form is GST-free; the .999 fineness meets the threshold.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt as fine bullion at the 99.9% silver threshold.
• EU: Full local VAT applies to new silver, between 17% and 27% by member state, with no margin scheme benefit since rounds are not second-hand coins.
• Singapore and Hong Kong: No capital gains tax in either; Hong Kong levies no sales tax at all. The zodiac theme has cultural resonance in Asian markets, though a US dealer brand carries less prestige there than Perth Mint or PAMP lunar products.

Two Series Across the Zodiac Cycle

The APMEX Lunar line began around 2012 with the Year of the Dragon and worked through the full twelve-animal cycle of the Chinese zodiac (Shengxiao): Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig, Rat, Ox, Tiger, and Rabbit, completing Series 1 in 2023. Series 2 launched in 2024 with completely redesigned artwork, restarting the cycle with the Dragon, the most popular and auspicious animal in the zodiac, a launch choice that maximised interest in the relaunch. The 2025 Snake and 2026 Horse have followed. The two-series structure mirrors how the Perth Mint has handled its own Lunar programme across Lunar I, II, and III, giving collectors a natural restart point.

The series leans into Chinese numerology in its limited editions. Series 2 proof rounds are capped at 888 pieces and the 2 oz high-relief antique rounds at 188, deliberate references to 8 as the luckiest number in Chinese culture, associated with wealth and prosperity. A 12-coin collector display box encourages buyers to complete the full cycle, a structure that has driven repeat business across more than a decade.

That longevity is itself the notable fact. Few bullion dealers are large enough to sustain a proprietary branded product line for twelve-plus years, with custom dies, expanded formats, and limited editions; the Series 2 relaunch, which added tamper-evident packaging, colourised proofs, and high-relief finishes to the range, signals that the programme has been a commercial success rather than a marketing experiment.

APMEX Lunar vs Sovereign-Mint Lunar Series

The benchmark for lunar-themed bullion is the Perth Mint Lunar series, now in its third generation. Perth Mint Lunar coins are Australian legal tender, struck in .9999 silver by a sovereign mint, and carry significantly higher premiums; they are the prestige choice and the more liquid one, recognised by dealers worldwide. The Royal Mint's Lunar series and the Royal Canadian Mint's limited-mintage lunar issues occupy similar sovereign territory. The APMEX round is the budget route to the same theme: the buyer gives up legal tender status, sovereign backing, and international recognition, and in exchange pays a private-round premium rather than a sovereign-coin one. For someone stacking silver who happens to like the zodiac artwork, that is a good trade; for someone collecting with resale in mind, the sovereign coins recover more of their premium at exit.

Against other dealer-branded rounds, from operations like SD Bullion and JM Bullion, the APMEX Lunar series stands out for longevity and the structured collector programme; most house brands are one-off generic designs rather than a twelve-year annual series with limited editions.

The 5 oz weight adds its own consideration. Five-ounce silver is a less common format than 1 oz or 10 oz, and a 5 oz piece from a dealer brand concentrates the recognition question: fewer potential buyers know the product, and each sale is a larger transaction. The 1 oz rounds in the series are the easier pieces to move; the 5 oz format suits buyers committed to the design who want more silver per piece.