I have a $1 Australian Kookaburra silver coin. It says, "1 oz." right on it, BUT the Standard Catalog of World Coins by Krause & Mishler (2004 edition) shows the A.S.W. (actual silver weight) as 1.0268 troy ounces. Did the Australian mint make a mistake? Or, did the mint just throw a little extra silver in the planchets just for fun? Or, are Krause & Mishler (gasp!) wrong? Does anyone know the story on this? At today's price (~$30) we're only looking at 80 cents difference, but still, it seems odd that there's a difference at all! Does anyone know the e-mail address of the Australian mint?
at least they are not under weight,,i check 20 ase's and results was as follows ..9 were1.105.....2 were1.095....6 were1.100...1 was1.10
I'm not sure, so don't quote me on this, but I believe that the 1 ounce might be referring to the silver weight, not the weight of the coin. Could the additional .0268 troy ounces be the .001% copper or balance metal? Again, I'm just spit ballin' here.
Per Krause 2011 SCWC: 2009 Kook (all varieties) = .999 oz ASW 2007 Kook = 1.0136 oz ASW 2005 Kook Proof = 1.0136 oz ASW 2005 Kook = .0332 oz ASW (definitely a calculation error) 2003 & 2004 Kook = .999 oz ASW 2004 P Proof & 2005 Zodiac Privy Marked Kooks = 1.0136 oz ASW 2002 Kook = 1.0155 oz ASW 2002 State Quarter Privy Mark Kooks = .999 oz ASW 2001 Privy Marked Kook = 1.0268 oz ASW I really don't know that much about them, but based on this short list it appears that the ASW fluctuates wildly depending on date and series.
Thanks Bismothermon for providing those figures. My Kookaburra is a 2001. It seems odd that there is such a range of ASW's, even though we're only talking hundredths of a troy ounce. I wonder who provides these assay figures in the first place. I assume it is the minting agency that produced the coin. Maybe I should ask Krause & Mishler where they obtain their figures. The more I think about it, the less I know!
