1/2 oz Australian Lunar Year of the Horse 2014 Gold Coin

History

Australian Lunar gold coin – Year of the Horse

The Chinese lunar calendar is today used by many for Taoist cosmology. It is believed that, depending on the year of the zodiac when a person is born, a special relationship exists between the person’s personality and the animal that constitutes part of the Chinese zodiac. The animals in the zodiac are supposed to be of symbolic nature, where each animal is a representation of a specific group of characteristics and traits that can be found in every human being. There are twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac, each of them being celebrated once every twelve years, with the year 2014 belonging to the horse.

The horse is a highly respected animal in Chinese culture and those born in the year of the horse are considered to be persons who enjoy travelling and who are impulsive and energetic with an edgy temperament that makes them easily become impatient. People born in the year of the horse are said to be intelligent and logical, and are also considered to be hard-working, independent and ambitious. This generally leads them to good health as their positive attitude to work influences their well-being. However, they have a tendency to take on a heavy workload which then tires them and saps their strength. Other people tend to like the companionship of people born in the year of the horse because of their humour and easy-going nature which will make most people feel at ease.

It can therefore be seen that the Australian Gold Lunar Year of the Horse coin is an ideal gift for whoever you love or respect, since giving a Gold Lunar coin means that you are showing affection by immortalising the person’s year of birth and particular virtues in pure and precious golden artwork.

Australian Lunar Year of the Horse coins – as rare as gold

The Perth Mint introduced the Lunar Year of the Horse gold coins for the first time in 2002 and subsequently issued the coins again in 2014. The next issue of the Year of the Horse will only become available in 2026, when the horse, according to the Chinese lunar calendar, will once again ride into view. In 2002 the gold coin was offered in 1 kilo, 10 oz, 2 oz, 1 oz, ¼ oz, 1/10 oz and 1/20 oz weights, while the 2014 issue added two new weights: 10 kg and ½ oz. The one-ounce gold pieces were sold out in both years, reaching the maximum mintage limit of 30,000 gold coins in each respective year. If the mintage for all Year of the Horse gold coins is included, then the total figure rises to 163,000 gold pieces. This is an extremely low figure compared with the mintage of other well-known investment bullion coins. For example, the Australian Kangaroo one-ounce gold coin reaches the corresponding cumulative mintage figure of the Year of the Horse Gold Series every year. Australian Lunar Year of the Horse gold bullion coins are thus well suited for collectors since they are naturally as rare as gold.

Australian Lunar gold coins are based on the Chinese Lunar Zodiac

It is believed that the Chinese lunar calendar was created almost five millennia ago by primeval ruling dynasties. Since that time, the calendar has been continuously improved by astronomers of different royal Chinese courts, culminating in a final version that was calculated according to the earth’s movement around the sun, but fitted into a lunar calendar, thus making it officially a lunisolar calendar. The decision to base the calendar on two celestial bodies stems from the fact that the moon’s motion around the earth is not in synchronisation with the earth’s motion around the sun, creating a time disparity which created a problem for farmers who, of course, needed an accurate calendar that would tell them the best time for planting and harvesting in accordance with the sun’s movement. Originally, the calendar was based on the cycles of the moon, as it was much easier for the ancient astronomers to make the necessary calculation. But, as time passed, they noticed the disparity between the lunar year which consisted of twelve months, each month consisting of 29.5 days which totalled 354 days in a year, and the solar year, which numbered a total of 365.24 days, thus making the lunar year 11 days shorter than the earth’s yearly orbit around the sun. To better synchronise the lunar calendar with the sun, a leap month was added every two or three years similar to that of the modern solar calendar where nearly every 4 years on February 29 an extra leap day is added to align the earth’s revolution around the sun.

In contrast to most other calendars, the Chinese lunar calendar does not count years in an infinite sequence, but is instead composed of  a 12 year period that is repeated five times in order to get to a cycle that is equal to 60 years. Each year of the period consists of two components, a heavenly stem and a terrestrial branch. The heavenly stem consists of ten symbols, which were the names of the ten days in the week used by the ancient Chinese, while the terrestrial branch consists of 12 animals from the Chinese zodiac cycle. For the creation of one year, each stem is combined with every second terrestrial branch. Thus, when all possible combinations between the heavenly stems and terrestrial branches have been made, this being equal to 60, the final cycle is created and subsequently it starts over once again. This method of cyclical dating is believed to be among the longest continuous sequences of time measurement in history. China today uses the Gregorian calendar, a solar calendar, for all civil purposes, but the lunar calendar is still the main calendar used by various communities in China and East Asia to determine celebrity dates such as jubilees, weddings, the Chinese New Year and other festivities. 

The first Australian Lunar gold coin series produced by The Perth Mint 1996-2007 became popular beyond expectation among investors and collectors. Therefore, towards the end of the first series the demand for second 12-year Lunar coin series became big.

Struck from 99.99% pure gold, bullion coins from the Australian Lunar Series II represent a trusted and convenient means of investing in precious metals. Backed by an Australian Government guarantee of weight and purity, each legal tender coin also provides an extremely cost-effective way to acquire precious metal.

Contributing even further to the appeal of Series II, the majority of these coins are struck with a larger diameter than normal, adding to their prestigious appearance.

Mintage

The Perth Mint will produce no more than 30,000 1oz gold coins. Production will cease when the mintage is fully sold or at the end of the series, whichever comes first. No mintage limit applies to 1 Kilo, 10oz, 2oz, 1/2oz, 1/4oz, 1/10oz and 1/20oz gold coins. Production will take place only one year, after which The Perth Mint will declare each coin’s official mintage. A maximum of 100 10 Kilo gold coins will be produced. However, production will take place only one year, after which the coin’s actual mintage will be declared.

The Perth Mint is a world distinguished mint and precious metals refiner that is located in the City of Perth, in Western Australia. The Perth Mint was founded in 1896 by Britain’s Royal Mint in response to the newly discovered gold deposits in Western Australia. Perth Mint’s task was to refine gold ore from the mines and to strike sovereign gold coins from the refined bullion. Between 1899 and 1931 the Pert Mint produced  a considerable amount of gold sovereigns which were distributed in Australia  and throughout the British Empire to be used as circulating currency. British control over Perth Mint was relinquished in 1971 to the Government of Western Australia which then assumed ownership of  the  mint.  Today,  the  Perth  Mint  is  hailed  for  the exceptional  quality  of  its  world  class investment bullion coins like the Kookaburra and Koala silver coins, and the Lunar Series. The Perth Mint has been a member of the London Gold Market (predecessor of the LBMA) since 1934. The swan design, which is the Mint’s official assay stamp registered with the LBMA, is recognised internationally and was inspired by the Mint’s location in Perth, where the main river, the Swan, runs through the city.