Silver Kookaburra Coin Specs and Melt Value

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Last updated: August 15, 2026 · By White Metal Resources Editorial

The Silver Kookaburra is the flagship silver bullion coin of The Perth Mint in Australia. It has been produced every year since 1990, in a one-troy-ounce format and in three larger sizes, with a reverse design that changes every year. This page walks through its specifications, its two composition eras, its annual design theme, and the arithmetic behind its melt value at any current silver price.

What the Silver Kookaburra is, in one paragraph

The Silver Kookaburra is a legal-tender bullion coin issued by The Perth Mint. The one-ounce coin has a face value of one Australian dollar. Its silver content is worth many multiples of that at any recent spot price.

The obverse carries the effigy of the reigning British monarch, in Australia's role as a Commonwealth realm. The reverse carries a different kookaburra design each year, always featuring the kingfisher bird native to Australia. Silver Kookaburras were first struck in 1990 and have been produced every year since (source: Australian Silver Kookaburra, Wikipedia summary of Perth Mint production).

The one-ounce Silver Kookaburra specifications summary

The one-ounce Silver Kookaburra comes in two composition eras with the same physical dimensions. Both eras contain about one troy ounce of silver in the coin: the change in 2018 was in fineness (purity), not in silver content. Face value is one Australian dollar for both eras.

Coins dated 1990 through 2017 are struck in 99.9 percent pure silver (999 fine). The one-ounce coin weighs 31.135 grams and holds about 1.000 troy ounces of pure silver.

Coins dated 2018 and later are struck in 99.99 percent pure silver (9999 fine). The one-ounce coin still weighs 31.135 grams and holds about 1.001 troy ounces of pure silver.

Diameter is 40.6 millimeters for the one-ounce coin in both eras. The edge is reeded. Both eras are minted at The Perth Mint in Perth, Western Australia, and both are legal tender under the Currency Act as a one-dollar coin.

The two composition eras, 1990 through 2017 and 2018 onward

The composition change in 2018 is a small but useful thing to know about a Silver Kookaburra. It affects what an assayer measures, what a refiner pays, and the exact silver-weight figure printed on modern Perth Mint packaging. The date check is a two-second glance at the reverse.

The 1990 through 2017 Silver Kookaburra uses 99.9 percent pure silver. That fineness was the standard for one-ounce silver bullion coins issued by most major national mints from the late twentieth century into the mid-2010s. The Silver Kookaburra sat at 999 alongside the American Silver Eagle and the historical Silver Kangaroo at the time.

The 2018 upgrade to 9999 fineness aligned the Silver Kookaburra with the modern high-purity convention that The Perth Mint had adopted across its bullion lineup. The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf had used 9999 since 1988. The Silver Kookaburra move to 9999 in 2018 kept Perth Mint bullion silver at the highest widely-used purity in the market.

Both eras still hold about one troy ounce of actual silver weight. The small difference between 999 fineness and 9999 fineness works out to about 0.001 troy ounces of extra silver in a 9999 coin, which is a fraction of a percent by mass. On a melt-value basis the two eras trade at essentially the same figure per coin at the same silver spot price.

The annual design change and why it matters for collector value

The Silver Kookaburra changes its reverse design every year. That is the single feature that most sets it apart from other one-ounce silver bullion coins. The American Silver Eagle reverse changed only twice in its history (2021 and never before). The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf reverse has been essentially the same design since 1988. The Silver Kookaburra reverse changes every year, without exception, since 1990.

The annual design change creates a design-based secondary market that ordinary bullion coins do not have. A collector who cares about a specific year can pay a premium to hold that specific reverse. A collector who wants a complete date run has a defined set to complete. A collector who follows the kookaburra as a design subject has a series that treats the bird differently each year, with sixteenth-anniversary and thirtieth-anniversary special designs woven through the run.

Older-year Silver Kookaburras with low bullion mintages often trade at premiums well above ordinary bullion. The 2004 through 2006 bullion mintages ran below 100,000 coins per year, per the public record of Perth Mint annual production. Those dates carry a stronger premium than a common-date modern coin at the same silver content. The 1990 first-year issue is a natural collectible for the series as a whole.

Bulk silver savers who plan to sell to melt should treat the design premium as icing rather than a load-bearing part of their thesis. A dealer buying at melt on a common-date one-ounce Silver Kookaburra will not pay a design premium. A specialist coin dealer or a private collector might, on a specific date. The premium is a range, not a fixed figure.

The melt value math, priced at example spot prices

Melt value is a computation, not a price quote. It equals the coin's actual silver weight in troy ounces multiplied by the silver spot price of the day. Both era compositions of the one-ounce Silver Kookaburra hold about one troy ounce of silver, so the melt value tracks the silver spot price almost one-for-one.

The chart below shows the illustrative melt value of a single one-ounce Silver Kookaburra at four example silver spot prices: 30 dollars, 40 dollars, 50 dollars, and 70 dollars per troy ounce. The two era compositions land at essentially the same figure at each price point.

The formal computation for a 999-fine coin (1990 through 2017) is 31.135 grams multiplied by 0.999, which gives 31.104 grams of pure silver. Divided by 31.1035 grams per troy ounce, that is 1.00001 troy ounces. Multiplied by a 50 dollar per ounce example spot price, the melt value is 50.00 dollars per coin.

For a 9999-fine coin (2018 and later) the math is 31.135 grams multiplied by 0.9999, which gives 31.1319 grams of pure silver. Divided by 31.1035, that is 1.00092 troy ounces. Multiplied by the same 50 dollar per ounce example spot price, the melt value is 50.05 dollars per coin. Both eras round to about 50 dollars per coin at an example 50 dollar spot price.

To reprice for a given day, substitute the live silver spot price for 50. At 30 dollars per troy ounce, both eras land near 30 dollars per coin. At 70 dollars per troy ounce, both land near 70 dollars per coin. Face value of one Australian dollar is irrelevant to the melt calculation.

Compute a specific piece with the melt calculator

To price a specific Silver Kookaburra against the silver spot price of the day, use the calculator below. Enter 31.135 grams for the weight of a one-ounce coin, and either 99.9 percent (for a 1990 through 2017 date) or 99.99 percent (for a 2018 or later date). Then enter the live silver spot price per troy ounce. The result is the coin's melt value in dollars.

The calculator uses the same arithmetic every dealer's back-office system runs: weight in grams multiplied by fineness, converted to troy ounces at 31.1035 grams per troy ounce, and priced against the silver spot input. It reports the raw melt value, not any dealer spread. Real dealer buy quotes usually sit a few percentage points below melt to cover assay, sorting, shipping, and margin. Collector premiums for older-year or low-mintage dates sit above the melt figure.

The four Silver Kookaburra sizes: 1 oz, 2 oz, 10 oz, and 1 kg

The Silver Kookaburra is issued in four sizes: one troy ounce, two troy ounces, ten troy ounces, and one kilogram. All four share the same annual reverse design and the same fineness as the one-ounce coin of their year. Face value scales with the size.

Source: Australian Silver Kookaburra, Wikipedia specifications table reported from The Perth Mint (checked August 2026). Silver content per size is total mass multiplied by fineness (999 for 1990 through 2017, 9999 for 2018 and later) and divided by 31.1035 grams per troy ounce.

The two-ounce, ten-ounce, and one-kilogram sizes have no bullion mintage cap and are minted to demand. The one-ounce coin is capped at 500,000 pieces per year for the bullion strike since 2013, which is a demand-driving feature discussed separately below.

Larger sizes carry a lower premium per troy ounce of silver than the one-ounce coin because the fixed minting and packaging cost is spread across more metal. A one-kilogram Silver Kookaburra typically trades closest to melt on a per-ounce basis. A one-ounce coin typically trades furthest from melt because its fixed cost per coin is proportionally largest.

Silver Kookaburra by year, design theme, and bullion mintage

The table below lists the one-ounce Silver Kookaburra bullion mintage by year, where a mintage figure is publicly reported. From 1990 through 2012 the mintage was set year by year without a firm cap. From 2013 onward the one-ounce bullion strike is capped at 500,000 coins per year. Every Silver Kookaburra shares the annual reverse design change, so the "design year" is simply the coin's date.

Sources: Australian Silver Kookaburra, Wikipedia mintage table reported from Perth Mint production figures (checked August 2026); The Perth Mint Silver Kookaburra product information for the 500,000 one-ounce bullion cap from 2013 onward. Years shown are only those with a publicly-reported bullion mintage figure or a distinct design or composition milestone. Blank years in the public record are not fabricated here.

Obverse portraits by monarch and the Kookaburra reverse

The obverse of the Silver Kookaburra carries the effigy of the reigning British monarch, in Australia's constitutional role as a Commonwealth realm. The Perth Mint updates the effigy when the sovereign changes and when a new official portrait is adopted for Australian coinage.

Queen Elizabeth II featured on every Silver Kookaburra struck between 1990 and 2022. The portrait most commonly seen on later Silver Kookaburras is by Jody Clark, adopted for Australian coinage in 2019. Earlier Silver Kookaburras carry earlier Elizabeth II portraits including the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy in wide use from 1998. The 2023 Silver Kookaburra is the first year to carry the King Charles III obverse portrait.

The reverse changes every year, without exception, since 1990. The design always features a kookaburra, the kingfisher bird native to eastern and southern Australia. Kookaburras appear on the reverse in a wide range of poses over the years: perched on branches, in flight, at rest, in family groups, and in scenes evoking the Australian bush.

The 2015 reverse reused the 1990 first-year design as a twenty-fifth anniversary tribute, dual-dated "1990-2015" on the reverse. The 2018 reverse introduced a new designer, Aleysha Howart, whose kookaburra-at-sunset scene coincided with the composition upgrade to 9999 fineness that year.

The 500,000 mintage cap on the one-ounce bullion coin

The Perth Mint set a 500,000-coin bullion mintage cap on the one-ounce Silver Kookaburra beginning with the 2013 issue. The cap was originally announced at one million coins for 2013, then reduced to 500,000, and the mint declared that future years would continue at that ceiling.

The two-ounce, ten-ounce, and one-kilogram sizes carry no equivalent cap and are minted to demand year by year. The cap is a design decision that keeps the one-ounce bullion coin closer to a collectible tier than the American Silver Eagle, which has no annual mintage cap.

In practice, most years the actual bullion mintage of the one-ounce Silver Kookaburra has sat below the cap. Years like 2011 hit the cap, and years like 2017 came within 20 percent of it, but many other years land well below. Any year the one-ounce coin sells out at 500,000 is a year where a small extra premium is likely to attach to that date in the secondary market.

The cap also puts a hard ceiling on how much silver moves out of The Perth Mint's Silver Kookaburra one-ounce line in any given year. Total silver leaving the Kookaburra one-ounce line is capped at roughly 500,000 troy ounces per year, or about 15,552 kilograms of silver. That is a small figure against global silver mine production. The Silver Kookaburra is a specialty coin, not a bulk-metal outlet.

Retail premium, collector demand, and older-year pricing

Silver Kookaburras almost always trade above their melt value at retail. The premium reflects the sovereign coin status, the design-driven collector demand, the annual mintage cap, and the dealer's cost to source and ship. This section describes the premium in qualitative tiers rather than in specific dollar figures, because retail markups vary by dealer, by year, by silver spot price, and by the specific reverse design.

Common-date modern one-ounce bullion Silver Kookaburras typically trade at a modest premium over melt. The premium moves with silver spot. Dealers commonly quote it in dollars per coin rather than as a percentage. That framing makes the premium look proportionally larger at low silver prices and proportionally smaller at high silver prices.

Older-year Kookaburras carry a design-driven collector premium above the common-date bullion range. Dates from the 1990s through the mid-2000s are typically no longer available in bulk quantity at any dealer. Any complete-tube or complete-monster-box lot from those years is unusual. Individual coins from low-mintage years like 2004, 2005, and 2006 typically show a stronger premium than the common-date modern strike.

Proof Silver Kookaburras trade at higher premiums than bullion strikes. Proof coins are produced on polished planchets with special dies, in far smaller numbers, and shipped in dedicated Perth Mint presentation packaging. The 2012 through 2018 proof mintages sat in the low thousands to low ten-thousands each year. Original Perth Mint proof packaging supports the collector premium and its absence usually reduces it.

Any dealer pitching a common-date circulated or lightly-toned modern Silver Kookaburra at multiples of melt price is running a script the underlying market does not support. The Federal Trade Commission has published general consumer guidance on inflated pricing in "rare" and "historic" coin sales for United States buyers (source: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice on investing in bullion and bullion coins). Treat any premium above the ordinary bullion range as a claim the seller has to justify.

A five step check on a Silver Kookaburra in hand

The steps below turn the specifications above into a repeatable check for a single coin. Follow the same five steps on every Silver Kookaburra in a lot and no piece will be mispriced against melt.

1. Read the date on the reverse. The reverse carries the year of issue in the design itself. Any date from 1990 through 2017 is a 999 fine coin. Any date from 2018 onward is a 9999 fine coin. Any date from 2023 onward should carry the King Charles III portrait on the obverse rather than Queen Elizabeth II.
2. Weigh the coin on a scale that reads to 0.01 grams. A one-ounce Silver Kookaburra should read close to 31.135 grams for both era compositions. A significant deviation, more than about 0.15 grams either way, is a red flag that warrants a diameter check and a specialist verification.
3. Measure the diameter with a caliper. A one-ounce Silver Kookaburra should measure 40.6 millimeters across for both era compositions. A larger diameter suggests a two-ounce piece. A much larger diameter suggests a ten-ounce or one-kilogram piece. A wrong diameter at a one-ounce weight is a counterfeit indicator.
4. Apply a magnet test. Silver at 999 fineness and at 9999 fineness is non-magnetic. Any Silver Kookaburra that a common household magnet sticks to is not authentic. This test rules out iron-core and steel-core counterfeits at zero cost. Follow with a specific-gravity test or a dealer verification for any coin that passes the magnet test but still looks off.
5. Compute the silver content and the illustrative melt. For a 999 fine coin multiply 31.135 grams by 0.999 to get 31.104 grams of silver, then divide by 31.1035 to get 1.00001 troy ounces. For a 9999 fine coin multiply 31.135 by 0.9999 to get 31.1319 grams of silver, then divide by 31.1035 to get 1.00092 troy ounces. Multiply either result by the live silver spot price per troy ounce to get the coin's melt value in dollars.

The five steps take under a minute per coin once the scale, caliper, and magnet are on the workbench. Anyone buying more than a handful of Silver Kookaburras at a time should also request the dealer's bullion verification service or a paid assay from an independent lab.

A worked example on a roll of 20 Silver Kookaburras

The Perth Mint sells and ships one-ounce Silver Kookaburras in shrink-wrap rolls of 20 coins. Five rolls make a monster box of 100 coins, which is Perth Mint's standard bullion packaging convention for the Silver Kookaburra. The math for a single roll sits below.

A roll of 20 older-year Kookaburras with a low-mintage date would clear at a higher figure than the common-date example above. A 2004 or 2006 sealed roll, for instance, would attract a specialist coin dealer or private collector willing to pay above the common-date premium. Any inheritor sitting on older sealed Perth Mint packaging should get two or three specialist quotes before selling to a common bullion dealer at melt.

Limits and caveats to keep in mind

Every melt figure on this page is a computation from a stated silver spot price, not a quote from a dealer and not a forecast. Silver prices move continuously during market hours. Any dollar figure here uses example spot prices of 30, 40, 50, or 70 dollars per troy ounce. Those values are clean round numbers, not market predictions.

Dealer buy prices sit below melt by design. Any commercial buyer needs a spread on the transaction to cover assay, sorting, shipping, insurance, and margin. A single-roll walk-in usually sees a wider spread than a monster-box lot delivered on a shipped order. Sellers should call two or three bullion dealers and compare quotes on the same day, then decide whether the spread justifies the sale.

Collector premiums are qualitative on this page. Real market prices for specific dates, low-mintage years, proof strikes, privy variants, and gilded coins depend on published price guides and completed auction sales. Anyone selling a large or unusual example should check current listings against completed sales on major public marketplaces before quoting a premium.

Face value and legal-tender status do not affect melt. A Silver Kookaburra remains legal tender at one Australian dollar in Australia for the one-ounce coin, and it must be accepted at face there. Spending the coin at face value is almost never the right call at any recent silver price, because the silver content runs many multiples of the face.

Silver Kookaburras are eligible for a self-directed silver Individual Retirement Account under United States tax law because they meet the 999 fineness standard for IRA silver in both era compositions. Holding a Silver Kookaburra in a retirement account is a different topic with its own custodian, depository, and tax rules covered in our silver IRA fineness explainer. This page addresses the coin as a physical asset held outside a retirement account.

Silver Kookaburra questions, answered

How much silver is in a one-ounce Silver Kookaburra?

A one-ounce Silver Kookaburra holds about one troy ounce of pure silver. Coins dated 1990 through 2017 hold about 1.00001 troy ounces of silver in a 31.135 gram coin at 99.9 percent fineness. Coins dated 2018 and later hold about 1.00092 troy ounces of silver in a 31.135 gram coin at 99.99 percent fineness. Both round to one troy ounce for practical purposes.

What is a Silver Kookaburra worth today?

The melt value equals the silver content multiplied by the day's spot silver price. At an illustrative 50 dollars per troy ounce, a one-ounce Silver Kookaburra holds about 50 dollars in silver. Substitute the current spot price to reprice. Retail dealers typically quote a modest premium over melt for common-date modern bullion strikes and higher premiums for older-year dates, low-mintage years, proof, and special-issue pieces.

Is a Silver Kookaburra pure silver?

Silver Kookaburras struck from 2018 onward are 99.99 percent pure silver (9999 fine). Silver Kookaburras struck from 1990 through 2017 are 99.9 percent pure silver (999 fine). Both era compositions clear the widely-used 999 fineness threshold for silver bullion. The 2018 upgrade added a small extra measure of purity above the 999 baseline.

Why did The Perth Mint change the Silver Kookaburra to 9999 fineness in 2018?

The upgrade aligned the Silver Kookaburra with The Perth Mint's high-purity convention across its bullion lineup. The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf had used 9999 since 1988. The Silver Kookaburra move to 9999 in 2018 kept Perth Mint bullion silver at the highest widely-used purity in the market, without changing the coin's total mass, diameter, or one-ounce format.

Why does the reverse design change every year?

The annual design change is a core feature of the Silver Kookaburra since it was first struck in 1990. The Perth Mint uses the yearly design change to build a collector market around the coin, in addition to its role as a one-ounce silver bullion piece. The obverse shows the reigning monarch and does not change every year. The reverse always features a kookaburra bird, in a new design every year, without exception.

Are older Silver Kookaburras worth more than melt?

Yes, in most cases. Older-year Silver Kookaburras with low bullion mintages (like 2004, 2005, and 2006, all under 100,000 coins per year in the bullion strike per the public record) typically trade at a design-driven collector premium above ordinary common-date bullion. The first-year 1990 issue is a natural collectible for the series. The premium is a range, not a fixed figure, and depends on condition, date, and the buyer.

Are Silver Kookaburras legal tender in the United States?

No. Silver Kookaburras are legal tender in Australia at their face value (one Australian dollar for a one-ounce coin), not in the United States. American holders can sell or trade a Silver Kookaburra to a bullion dealer, a coin shop, or an online buyer at its silver content value. The coin has no monetary status in ordinary American commerce and would not be accepted at a United States retail counter.

Do Silver Kookaburras qualify for a precious metals IRA?

Yes. Silver Kookaburras from both era compositions meet the minimum silver fineness standard for United States self-directed IRA silver. The 1990 through 2017 issues are at 999 fineness, which clears the threshold. The 2018 and later issues are at 9999 fineness, well above it. IRA-eligible metals must also be held in the physical possession of an approved custodian at an approved depository. The topic is separate from ordinary personal ownership of the coin.