2 oz Perth Mint Lunar Gold Coin

The 2 oz Perth Mint Lunar Gold Coin

The 2 oz Lunar is a serious piece of gold: 62.215 grams of 99.99% pure metal with a $200 AUD face value, in a 40.6mm coin that gives the year's zodiac design substantially more room than the standard 1 oz. The denomination joined the Lunar gold range in 2000, alongside the 10 oz and kilo sizes, and not every size is struck every year, which keeps availability tighter than the smaller coins.

The 2 oz gold format is genuinely uncommon. Neither the US Mint nor the Royal Canadian Mint produces a standard 2 oz bullion coin, and the Perth Mint is the weight's major producer, predominantly through this series. Premiums on 2 oz gold coins run roughly 3 to 6%, similar to 1 oz coins, so the buyer is not paying a meaningful fractional penalty; the appeal is the larger design canvas and the consolidation of two ounces into one legal tender coin.

As with the rest of the programme, mintages are controlled rather than unlimited, the reverse changes annually through the 12-year zodiac cycle, and Dragon years (2000, 2012, 2024) sell fastest. Buyers who want the same design in a more liquid size should look at the 1 oz Lunar gold coin; those scaling up can find the series in 10 oz and 1 kilo gold sizes in years they are produced.

2 oz Lunar Gold Coin Specifications

Gold purity has held at four nines across all three Lunar series since 1996. The 2 oz sits between the 1 oz ($100 AUD, 32.1mm) and 10 oz ($1,000 AUD, 60.3mm) in a range that runs from 1/20 oz to a 10 kilo flagship, with production of the larger sizes varying year to year.

Series III coins (2020 to 2031) carry the programme's modern security features: a micro-laser engraved letter, varying by year and visible only under magnification, a small P mintmark for Perth in the reverse design, and a precision radial line background that resists replication. Series I and II coins predate these, so authentication of older 2 oz coins rests on weight, dimensions, and strike quality, all of which are tightly specified for a coin of this size. The reverse carries the year's zodiac animal with Chinese characters; the obverse moved through Queen Elizabeth II portraits by Maklouf, Rank-Broadley, and Clark before King Charles III took over from 2024.

Tax Treatment of the 2 oz Lunar Gold Coin

Two ounces of gold is a five-figure purchase in most currencies, and the coin's 99.99% purity keeps it inside every major investment gold exemption.

• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade gold (the threshold is 99.5%). CGT applies on disposal with a 50% discount for individuals after 12 months; Australian legal tender status confers no CGT exemption.
• United Kingdom: VAT-free as investment gold. Not CGT-exempt, because the coin has no sterling face value; on a coin this size the eventual CGT exposure is worth planning around, since the annual allowance is £3,000.
• United States: No federal sales tax; most states exempt bullion, and threshold states such as New York and Massachusetts ($1,000) and California ($2,000) are cleared easily at this value. IRA-eligible at the IRS 99.5% fineness floor; outside an IRA, long-term gains face the collectibles rate of up to 28%.
• Canada: GST/HST-exempt above 99.5% purity; eligible for RRSPs through qualifying dealers.
• European Union: VAT-exempt as investment gold; Perth Lunar gold coins typically appear on the EU's qualifying coins list.
• Singapore and Hong Kong: No GST (Singapore's IPM scheme) or sales tax (Hong Kong), and no capital gains tax in either, which makes them notably efficient venues for large coins like this.

The Large-Format Lunars Since 2000

The Perth Mint launched the Lunar programme in 1996, the first major mint to put the Chinese zodiac on bullion, beginning with 1 oz and smaller gold coins. The 2 oz arrived in 2000 along with the 10 oz and 1 kilo denominations, expanding the programme upmarket in the same year its first Dragon issue landed, and a 10 kilo size followed in 2006. The most extreme of those big coins, the 2007 Pig 10 kilo, had a mintage of just six pieces.

The series structure is three complete 12-year cycles: Series I (1996 to 2007), Series II (2008 to 2019), and Series III (2020 to 2031), each working through Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Series I designs were traditional and relatively simple, with dotted borders and Chinese characters; Series II grew more elaborate, occasionally with multiple animals per coin; Series III pairs the most intricate artwork with the programme's first security features, introduced in 2020.

The obverse follows the monarchy: Raphael Maklouf's Queen Elizabeth II initially, Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait from 1999, Jody Clark's from 2019, and King Charles III from 2024. The programme was aimed at Asian-Pacific markets from the start, and demand from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia still shapes which years sell out, with Dragon years the perennial leaders and early Series I coins the scarcest of all.

2 oz Lunar Gold vs the Realistic Alternatives

At 2 oz in gold, there is no equivalent from the US Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, or Royal Mint bullion ranges; the weight is essentially a Perth Mint speciality. The mint strikes 2 oz gold in its Kangaroo and Koala ranges mainly as proof and high-relief collector pieces, which leaves the Lunar as the standard-issue 2 oz gold bullion coin. Buyers committed to this weight are largely choosing between Lunar years, where mintage, zodiac animal, and series vintage drive the price differences.

The more practical comparison is against two coins of half the size. Two 1 oz Lunar gold coins hold the same metal with better divisibility: they can be sold separately, and the 1 oz is the programme's most traded denomination. Premiums on 2 oz gold coins are broadly similar to 1 oz on a percentage basis, so the single big coin neither saves nor costs much; it trades flexibility for a larger, more detailed strike of the year's design.

Against a fixed-design heavyweight like the 1 oz Gold Maple Leaf bought in pairs, the Lunar's case is collectibility: controlled mintages, a design that marks its year, and a buyer base that includes zodiac collectors as well as bullion stackers. The Maple Leaf counters with lower premiums and deeper liquidity. Pure metal accumulators should also price 2 oz against gold bars, which undercut all coins on premium.