The world’s largest gold coin is the Australian Kangaroo, weighing one ton, produced by the Perth Mint in Western Australia in 2011.
True to its name, this kangaroo-shaped coin weighs one ton, equivalent to the weight of about 11 kangaroos, and contains 99.99% pure gold. Created to commemorate the series of gold kangaroo coins issued by the mint since 1989, this coin has a face value of 1 million Australian dollars (648,000 USD), making it the largest legal tender coin in the world, according to IFL Science.
One-ton Australian Kangaroo Coin. (Photo: Expedia).
This coin measures 12 cm thick and 80 cm tall. Its impressive size, purity, and record title mean that although its face value is 1 million Australian dollars, the current market value of the gold used to mint it is approximately 110,055,898 Australian dollars (71,429,850 USD), making the actual value of the coin significantly higher than its nominal value.
Listed in the Guinness World Records a year after its release, the coin was exhibited across Asia and Europe in 2014, even making a one-day trip to New York in 2019 to promote the Perth Mint investment fund, known as Perth Mint Physical Gold (AAAU). The mint also produces several smaller kangaroo coins, including a 28-gram coin with a face value of 100 Australian dollars (65 USD).
The previous record was held by Canada’s 99.7 kg coin known as The Big Maple Leaf. It was the first of five identical coins minted in 2007. It has a face value of 1 million Canadian dollars (741,000 USD), but like the kangaroo coin, its actual value far exceeds that amount.
“We thought it best to create a coin so large that it would hold the title of the world’s largest coin for a long time,” said Ed Harbuz, CEO of the Perth Mint. “Minting and crafting a coin of this size and weight is a particularly challenging task that very few mints would consider.”
Australia, home to the largest gold nugget ever found, sparked one of the biggest gold rushes in the 19th century, and the country’s vast gold reserves are still actively mined today. The total amount of gold ever discovered on Earth could fit into a cube with each side measuring 23 meters.
