World's Biggest Gold Coin Minted In Australia

First time accepted submitter shocking writes "The Perth Mint has created a gold coin that is just over one tonne in weight and worth over 50 million AUD. From the article: 'A team of a dozen people have worked since late last year to create the coin which measures 80 centimeters wide and 12 centimeters deep, featuring a kangaroo on one side and the Queen's motif on the other.' Ron Paul eat your heart out!"

Comments

Gold coins are so last century

[SharkLaser]

Now we mine BitCoins!

Re:Gold coins are so last century

[jpapon]

Because while you are producing the coins, you're not really "minting" them. Rather, you're searching for them in a heap of worthless other stuff... i.e. mining. At least that's my take on it. Honestly it's just pointless metaphor semantics.

Now they need to...

[Anonymous Coward]

...build the world's biggest couch so it can fall between the cushions.

Explains a lot about the economy

[SmallFurryCreature]

The coin has a "worth" of 1 million AUD but contains 50 million AUD of gold...

And you wonder why the economy is down the crapper. Also... 50 million worth of gold. Perhaps some better use could be found for it then a vanity piece to show just how much Australia bows before its British superiors?

I would have shaped in the form of a blade and put it in a guillotine. Some might scoff at the sharpness of such a blade but with that weight it will do the job. Just more messily, mad max style.

Re:Explains a lot about the economy

[imroy]

Your economy is in the crapper, Australia's isn't. We're doing pretty well, partly thanks to our mining sector selling raw materials to China. We also had a recession back in 1987 due (from what I'm hearing now) to bad assets. It had the result of (eventually) clearing out all of those bad assets and leaving our banks stronger than before. So when the GFC hit everyone, we were able to weather it rather well. You guys haven't, and you haven't gotten rid of the toxic assets that caused it in the first place! We're all in for more pain...

Re:Explains a lot about the economy

[JasterBobaMereel]

In what way is this "bowing before its British superiors" ? So it has a picture of your head of state on it ...who is about as British as Angela Merkel

Re:Featuring...what ???

[Warwick Allison]

All Australian coins have Her Majesty's Royal Jowls on the Heads side. What's is conspicuously missing is the denomination (5 billion cents) on the Tails. I guess they didn't have the guts to speculate on its intrinsic value. So is it really a coin then, or just a medallion?

Change you REALLY can believe in!

[rts008]

*fumbles change in pocket*
"How do you get THIS in the vending machine?!?"

*cue 'Crocodile Dundee'* "No, THIS is a coin, mate!"
(My sincere apologies to Australians, but I just could not help myself. I developed a healthy respect for Aussie troops during my stint in the US Army:-)

Interesting statistic

[coldmist]

From what I've read, all the gold in the world that has been mined could fill something like 2 olympic swimming pools, or something like that.

Considering this is like 32 inches x 5 inches, think of that sitting in the bottom of an olympic pool. Not too big, but still pretty impressive considering the relative size.

Douglas Adams saw this coming

[Alioth]

It's funny how Hitch-hiker stuff seems to have a bearing on real life so often...

"...and the Triganic Pu has its own very special problems. Its exchange rate of eight Ningis to one Pu is simple enough, but since a Ningi is a triangular rubber coin six thousand eight hundred miles along each side, no one has ever collected enough to own one Pu. Ningis are not negotiable currency, because the Galactibanks refuse to deal in fiddling small change"

And I bet the banks would refuse to deal with this gigantic gold coin.