1/20 oz Perth Mint Lunar Gold Coin

The 1/20 oz Perth Mint Lunar Gold Coin

The 1/20 oz Lunar is the smallest coin in the Perth Mint's zodiac gold range: 1.556 grams of 99.99% pure gold, 14.1mm across, with a $5 AUD face value. The 1/20 oz denomination itself is a rarity, produced by only a handful of mints; the American Gold Eagle and Britannia ranges stop at 1/10 oz, leaving the Perth Mint and Royal Canadian Mint as the main sources of troy-ounce gold this small.

Be clear about what this coin is for. Premiums at 1/20 oz are the steepest of any government-minted gold weight, typically 15 to 25% over spot and sometimes higher, because the cost of striking, finishing, and packaging a coin is spread across just a gram and a half of metal. Buyback sits at or near spot, so most of that premium is not recovered on resale. As accumulation, it is the most expensive way to buy gold from a sovereign mint.

As a gift or collectible, the economics read differently. This is the cheapest way to own each year's zodiac design in gold, which makes it popular for lunar new year and birth-year gifts, and full 12-coin zodiac cycles are a realistic collecting project at this size. Buyers focused on value should step up to the 1/10 oz Lunar or beyond, where each move up the fractional gold ladder cuts the premium per gram.

1/20 oz Lunar Gold Coin Specifications

At 14.1mm this is a tiny coin, smaller than a shirt button, and individual capsules or flips are effectively mandatory; there is no standard tube packaging at this size, and a loose coin this small is easy to lose or damage. Despite the size, purity matches the rest of the Lunar gold range at four nines across all three series since 1996.

The 1/20 oz anchors the bottom of a gold range that runs through 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, 1 oz, 2 oz, 10 oz, 1 kilo, and a 10 kilo flagship. Series III coins (2020 to 2031) carry the programme's security features, including a micro-laser engraved letter and the small P mintmark within the reverse design, though at this scale magnified inspection is needed for any of it. Series I and II coins have no advanced security features. The reverse shows the year's zodiac animal; the obverse carries Queen Elizabeth II in portraits by Maklouf, Rank-Broadley, and Clark across the years, then King Charles III from 2024.

Tax Treatment of the 1/20 oz Lunar Gold Coin

The coin's 99.99% purity keeps it within investment gold rules everywhere that has them, despite its small size.

• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade gold (99.5% threshold). CGT applies on disposal with a 50% discount for individuals after 12 months of holding.
• United Kingdom: VAT-free as investment gold. Not CGT-exempt, since only coins with a sterling face value qualify, though gains on coins this small rarely trouble the £3,000 annual CGT allowance.
• United States: No federal sales tax and most states exempt bullion, but watch threshold states: California's exemption applies only over $2,000, and New York, Massachusetts, and Louisiana use $1,000 floors that a single 1/20 oz coin will not reach, so small purchases there can be taxed where a 1 oz coin would be exempt. The coin meets the IRS 99.5% fineness rule for IRAs, though the premium structure makes it a poor IRA pick. Gains outside an IRA face the collectibles rate of up to 28%.
• Canada: GST/HST-exempt above the 99.5% purity threshold.
• European Union: VAT-exempt as investment gold; Perth Lunar gold coins typically appear on the EU's annual qualifying coins list.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt as gold at or above 99.5% purity.

The Smallest Coin in the First Lunar Programme

The Perth Mint launched the Lunar series in 1996 with the Year of the Mouse, the first major mint to build a bullion programme around the Chinese zodiac. The 1/20 oz was part of the original gold line-up, giving the programme an entry-level coin from the start, and it has continued through all three cycles: Series I from 1996 to 2007, Series II from 2008 to 2019, and Series III from 2020 to 2031.

Each cycle works through the twelve animals in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. The design language has matured with each series. Series I coins were simple and traditional, with dotted borders, stylised clouds, and the Chinese character for each animal. Series II introduced more complex compositions, in some years with multiple animals on the reverse. Series III brings the most intricate designs of the programme plus its first security features, the micro-laser engraved letter and P mintmark, introduced from 2020.

Obverse portraits track the monarchy: Raphael Maklouf's Queen Elizabeth II on the earliest issues, Ian Rank-Broadley's from 1999, Jody Clark's from 2019, and King Charles III from 2024. The programme was designed for Asian-Pacific markets, where lunar new year gifting drives a steady seasonal demand that suits a coin this size. The scarcest issues are the early Series I years of 1996 to 1999, and Dragon years remain the most sought after in every cycle.

1/20 oz Lunar vs Maple Leaf, Kangaroo, and 1g Bars

Only a few mints compete at this weight. The 1/20 oz Gold Maple Leaf is the most widely available 1/20 oz coin, matching the Lunar's 99.99% purity and carrying the Royal Canadian Mint's security features with a fixed maple design and unlimited mintage. The Perth Mint's own 1/20 oz Gold Kangaroo also changes design annually but is struck to demand; the Lunar's controlled mintages and zodiac theme make it the more collector-driven of the two. The Mexican Libertad exists at this size in .999 fineness with low mintages and its own collector following.

The other route to gold at this outlay is a 1g minted bar in an assay card, common in Europe where buyers in this price range typically prefer small bars to 1/20 oz coins. The comparison: the coin contains 56% more gold (1.556g versus 1g), carries legal tender status and a sovereign guarantee, and offers the annual design; the bar is simpler and skips the coin's collectible layer.

Within the Lunar range, the 1/10 oz Lunar is the better-value small coin, with materially lower premiums per gram and easier resale. The 1/20 oz wins only when the per-coin price is the constraint, which is precisely its role as the programme's gift and entry coin.