Over the centuries, there have been consistent moves to carry more money, in the sense of spending power, with less bulk and weight, with moves to carry money as banknotes and cheque books and now as debit and credit cards.
| The fascinating process leading up to the creation of the vast coin |
Perth mint, however, bucked the trend this month by unveiling the largest coin of all time. So if you thought the likes of the Chinese Olympic gold 10kg coin was a bit startling, you'll be lost for words at this.
The coin weighs 1,000kg (1 metric ton) and is made of 24 karat gold (or 99.99% pure if you prefer). It measures nearly 80 cm wide and more than 12 cm deep and is obviously the most intrinsically valuable.
It is also legal tender, though not necessarily a welcome form of payment. Still, at least it's unlikely to get lost down the back of the sofa (the other way round, if anything). It has a face value of A$1m.
The obverse of the coin features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of the queen, accompanied by the inscriptions, "ELIZABETH II, AUSTRALIA," and the monetary denomination of "1 MILLION DOLLARS."
The reverse features a bounding red kangaroo surrounded by stylised rays of sunlight and bordered by the inscription, "AUSTRALIAN KANGAROO 1 TONNE 9999 GOLD, 2012."
The popular Australian Kangaroo program offers a choice of gold bullion coins in a range of sizes, with various mintage limits and annual design changes, and it's really the popularity of the coin series which inspired what is probably the largest gold-casting ever attempted.
Acting as a museum exhibit to show off the qualities of the normal range, this is one coin for which the issue number is likely to remain at one.
Large denominations do have a particular fascination for some coin collectors. We've previously sold an example of the largest denomination gold coin struck from East India Company to an eager bidder, but fortunately for large coin fans there is another intriguing piece now available.
This is a similar piece: an example of the largest denomination gold coin from the final year of the 17th Century. A modern study in 2005 of Five Guineas coins only tracked 62 specimens of this date traded in commerce over a forty year period.
