The One Tonne Gold Coin

This “One Tonne Gold Australian Coin” is the world’s biggest and most valuable coin. Weighing one tonne of 99.99% pure gold, this monumental coin measures nearly 80cms wide and more than 12cms deep. This massive Kangaroo Coin features a bounding red kangaroo surrounded by stylized rays of sunlight and bordered by the inscription AUSTRALIAN KANGAROO 1 TONNE 9999 GOLD and the year-date 2012.

Issued as Australian legal tender, the reverse of the coin features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the inscriptions: ELIZABETH II, AUSTRALIA and the monetary denomination of 1 MILLION DOLLARS.

While it has a nominal value of A$1million (£650,000) at the current cost of gold, it is worth a lot more. If it were melted down and separated into gold bars, it would be worth over A$54m.

The One Tonne Gold Coin

• Exhibit:                   The One Tonne Gold Coin
• Materials:               99.99% pure gold
• Weight:                   1 Tonne, 1,012 kilograms (2,231 lb)
• Diameter:               80 centimeters (31 in)
• Thickness:              12 centimeters (4.7 in)
• Date Made:             2011
• Nominal value:     A$1million (£650,000)
• Gold Value:            A$53.5 million at the time of minting
• Museum:                Perth Mint

A Tour of Museums  in Australia

• Museums in Sydney
  • Art Gallery of New South Wales
  • Australian Museum
  • Australian National Maritime Museum
  • Museum of Sydney
  • Powerhouse Museum
  • Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
  • Nicholson Museum
  • Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum
  • Museum of Fire

• Museums in Melbourne
  • National Gallery of Victoria
  • Melbourne Museum
  • Shrine of Remembrance
  • Hellenic Museum, Melbourne
  • State Library of Victoria
  • National Sports Museum
  • Old Treasury Building, Melbourne
  • Old Melbourne Gaol
  • Chinese Museum, Melbourne
  • Jewish Museum of Australia

• Museums in Canberra
  • National Museum of Australia
  • National Gallery of Australia
  • Australian War Memorial
  • National Portrait Gallery

• Museums in Brisbane
  • Queensland Art Gallery
  • Queensland Museum & Science Centre
  • MacArthur Museum Brisbane
  • RD Milns Antiquities Museum
  • Queensland Maritime Museum
  • Commissariat Store, Brisbane
  • Queensland Police Museum

• Museums in Perth
  • Art Gallery of Western Australia
  • WA Shipwrecks Museum
  • Perth Mint
  • WA Maritime Museum
  • Fremantle Prison

• Museums in Adelaide
  • Art Gallery of South Australia
  • South Australian Museum
  • Migration Museum, Adelaide

• Museums in Hobart
  • Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)
  • Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

• Museums in Darwin
  • Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
  • Darwin Military Museum
  • Australian Aviation Heritage Centre

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“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
– J. R. R. Tolkien

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Photo Credit: GM