2012 Silver Proof Dragon and Other Dragon Issues

The milking of the dragon was supposed to end on 3 September 2012 when Year of the Snake Silver Bullion Coins are minted. However, on 31 October 2012, Perth Mint made the last effort to mint High Relief Gold Proof Dragon of 388 mintage whereby 38 are released in Australia at A$2,818.

My Unofficial Typeset that comprises of (from left): Bullion, Gilded, Proof, Coloured Proof

The original mint issued typeset comprised of Bullion, Gilded Bullion, Coloured Bullion and Proof with issue price at A$331.82. The highest price I managed to spot, was sold in ebay for A$1,150 on 22 Oct 2011 - nearly 3.5 times of the issue price.

The silver proof version is normally the most sort after numismatic single coin of the series. The 1 oz Silver Proof coin was issued at A$97.27, hitting a high of US$415 on 5 Oct 2011 - almost 4 times.

In response to market demands for near historical high silver spot price and the popularity of Year of Dragon coins, Perth Mint issued the first ever Proof Coloured Lunar coin at the same price (A$97.27) as the Proof version. Its mintage is, however, double that of the Proof version at 10,000. Hence, it only hit a high of US$236 on 12 Oct 2011 - less than 2.5 times, compared to the non-coloured version.

The gilded dragon has been sold out at its maximum mintage of 50,000. It is a remarkable sell-out as the rest of the gilded coins that were issued since 2008 did not even manage to sell 20,000 pieces. Issued at A$90, it hit a high of US$150.50 on 14 Oct 2011 - about 1.5 times.