New 2018 coin designs
Now that it is already 2018, it’s time to have a look at the new 2018 coin designs for those bullion coins that change their reverse design each year. Of all the bullion coins listed on our site, this concerns the Australian Kangaroos, the Australian Lunar coins, the Chinese Panda coins, the British Lunar coins and the British Queen’s Beasts coins.
The 2018 coins of the Australian Kangaroo series are already available since the 23rd of October 2017. What is new is that a platinum version of the coins is issued for the very first time. The new 1 oz Australian Platinum Kangaroos show the same “Red Kangaroo” design on the reverse that also appears on the silver version of the coins. Just like every year before, the reverse of the gold version of the coins shows a new kangaroo image. The reverse of the 2018 Australian Gold Kangaroos shows two kangaroos jumping across a stylized rural landscape. The year of issue, gold weight and purity of the coin appears on the reverse side as well as usual.
Two kangaroos are bounding accross the plain on the new 2018 Australian Gold Kangaroos
New 2018 coin designs also came out for another popular coin series that is issued annually by the Perth Mint in Australia. These are the Australian Lunar gold and silver coins. Both are dedicated to the Chinese “Year of the Dog” 2018. The reverse of the new gold coin shows a Labrador Retriever in rocky terrain with a stylized pine tree in the background. The reverse of the silver coin is different and shows a German Shepherd dog lying in the grass next to its puppy with Chinese peony flowers in the background. The Chinese hanzi character for dog also appears on the reverse side of both coins together with the inscription “Year of the Dog” and the Perth Mint’s mint mark P. Mintage of the 1 oz gold version of the Australian Lunar coins is capped at 30,000 coins. The 1 oz silver version is minted in more abundant numbers with a mintage limit of 300,000 coins.
Perhaps the most popular coins that change their reverse design each year are the Chinese Panda coins. They are not only popular with investors but also with collectors and many Panda coins are offered as gifts each year. The new 2018 coin designs of the Gold and Silver Pandas show a large portrait of a Giant Panda eating a bamboo shoot. The adorable image could make the coins popular as an (expensive) Valentine’s Day gift this year. If you want to surprise your girlfriend, you could have the coin fitted into a pendant so that it can be worn as jewelry.
The Royal Mint’s new 2018 coin designs
The fifth design in the British Lunar coin series is dedicated to the Chinese “Year of the Dog”. Whereas the new 2018 coin designs of the Australian Lunar coins show different dog designs on their gold and silver version (just like every year before), British Lunar coins use the same design. This year, their reverse sides show a playful terrier within a textured background that is meant to represent an imprint of the dog’s nose. The obverse side of the coins also underwent a minor change and now features a guilloché background design. Mintage of this year’s 1 oz British Lunar gold coin is capped at 8,888 pieces. The 1 oz British Silver Lunar coins will be much easier to obtain due to their higher mintage limit of 138,888 coins.
The new 2018 coin designs of the British Queen’s Beasts coins out of gold and silver depict the Unicorn of Scotland as it is jumping over a shield. This is the fourth design in the Queen’s Beasts series and six additional designs are yet to be released until the series’ scheduled completion in 2021. The obverse side of the coins changed the background to a new guilloché design just like the British Lunar coins mentioned above.
