Australian Kookaburra

The Australian Kookaburra is a silver bullion coin series struck by the Perth Mint in Western Australia, named for the native kingfisher whose image appears on the reverse. This coin shows the classic pairing: a Queen Elizabeth II portrait on the obverse, inscribed ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2 DOLLARS, and a kookaburra perched on a branch amid foliage on the reverse.

The two-dollar face value identifies this as the two-ounce size in the range, containing two troy ounces of .999 fine silver. Like other bullion coins its legal face value is nominal—the piece trades for the market value of its silver content plus a premium. The series is prized by collectors because the kookaburra reverse is redesigned every year, so the 2012 design shown here is specific to that year's issue.

The Perth Mint launched the silver Kookaburra series in 1990, making it one of the earliest modern Australian silver bullion programs. From the outset the reverse featured the laughing kookaburra, a bird strongly associated with the Australian bush, and the Mint adopted the practice of changing the reverse design annually—a feature that sets the series apart from bullion coins with a fixed motif.

The coins have been issued in several sizes over the years, including one-ounce, two-ounce, ten-ounce and one-kilo formats, each carrying a face value scaled to its weight; the two-ounce coin bears the two-dollar denomination seen here. The obverse has carried successive royal effigies of Queen Elizabeth II; a 2012 coin uses the Ian Rank-Broadley portrait that appeared on Australian coinage of that era.

Because each year brings a new kookaburra reverse and mintages of the larger sizes are limited, individual dates and sizes can develop their own collector followings beyond their bullion value.

The obverse shown here bears a right-facing portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with the surrounding legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2 DOLLARS. The two-dollar denomination is the key to the coin's size: it marks the two-ounce silver Kookaburra rather than the one-ounce (one dollar) or larger issues. The reverse depicts a kookaburra perched on a branch with foliage, together with the series name, the weight and fineness, the year, and the Perth Mint's P mint mark.

Physically this is a large, bright silver coin. A two-ounce Kookaburra measures roughly 50 mm in diameter and weighs about 62.2 grams of .999 fine silver, noticeably bigger and heavier than a standard one-ounce bullion coin. The edge is reeded and the color is a clean, white silver.

Because the reverse changes yearly, the specific kookaburra pose is diagnostic of the date: the 2012 issue shows a single perched bird among leaves. The date on the reverse and the design should match a known 2012 Kookaburra.

As a bullion coin, the Kookaburra's baseline value follows the live silver spot price—here for two troy ounces of .999 silver—plus a premium for minting and distribution. Silver Kookaburras typically carry a higher premium than plain bullion because of their annually changing designs and comparatively limited mintages.

The two-ounce size and specific dates can add a collector premium above melt, especially for coins in pristine condition, in original Perth Mint packaging, or certified in high grades. Scarcer years and the larger formats tend to command the strongest premiums.

Silver prices move daily, so treat any single figure as a snapshot. For a 2012 two-ounce Kookaburra, expect a price anchored to the current value of two ounces of silver plus a series premium; check a live bullion quote and recent sales of the same date and size before buying or selling.