Australian Proof Silver Coin Celebrates Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

The 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Proof Silver Coin has been released by the Perth Mint of Australia (http://www.perthmint.com.au/) to celebrate the sixty-year reign of Her Majesty The Queen. Each coin is struck from one ounce of 99.9% pure silver and features a colorized reverse emblematic of a famous painting of the Queen from her early days as the reigning monarch.

The silver coin is available for a limited time from the Perth Mint for AUS $97.27. The strikes feature an extremely limited mintage of 7,500.

Diamond Jubilee Proof Silver Coin Designs and Specifications

Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne on February 6, 1952 following the passing of her father, George VI. At the time she was only twenty-five years old. An official coronation ceremony followed the next year for the Queen after which a grand tour of the Commonwealth of Nations was scheduled.

Among those countries visited by the new Queen was Australia. Her arrival in the country had marked the first time a reigning monarch of the state had set foot on its soil and was a cause for great celebration. It also had a cohesive effect on the population with almost three-quarters of the nation estimated to have seen her in person during her visit.

Following her visit, Melbourne industrialist James P Beveridge planned to commemorate the occasion with a portrait of the young queen. To that end, he commissioned artist Sir William Dargie who traveled to England for sittings with the monarch.

The result was the now-famous wattle painting of the Queen which is also depicted on the reverse of the Diamond Jubilee Proof Silver Coin. The image is shown colorized to enhance the likeness of the painting as well as the Queen herself.

Surrounding the colorized image is the Queen’s personal emblem along with her signature. Reverse inscriptions include “DIAMOND JUBILEE,” “1952-2012” and “1 OZ 999 SILVER.”

Struck as legal tender of Australia, the obverse also contains a portrait of Her Majesty. This effigy was completed by Ian Rank-Broadley and is included on the obverse of all Australian legal tender coins. Surrounding the portrait on the obverse are the inscriptions of “ELIZABETH II,” “AUSTRALIA,” “2012” and “1 DOLLAR.”

The coin is presented in a black presentation case and is shipped inside an illustrated shipper with a numbered certificate of authenticity. That certificate indicates the maximum mintage of the coin which, as stated before, is 7,500.

The Diamond Jubilee Proof Silver Coin may be ordered directly from the Perth Mint.

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About the Perth Mint of Australia

The Royal Mint of England originally opened the Perth Mint of Australia (http://www.perthmint.com.au/) in 1899 as a branch of the London facility. Its original purpose was to refine gold from nearby deposits in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie and mint gold sovereigns from it.

It continued in operation as a branch of the Royal Mint until ownership was transferred to the State Government of Western Australia in 1970. Today, the Perth is the official issuer of the Australian Federal Government’s Gold and Silver Bullion Coin Program in addition to producing some of the world’s most unique collectible coins.