If you collect Australian coins and haven't been living under a rock for the last 6 weeks then you should be well aware of the fact that the 2010 $25 Gold Proof Kangaroo at Sunset coin has been released by the RAM. As was the case with the 2009 Kangaroo at Sunset coin the RAM held a ballot to determine the allocation of this very limited mintage (just 1000 issued) coin. Unlike last year the RAM seems to have handled the process a lot better. Ballots were due in on the 12th of November with a limit of 1 ballot per person, international subscribers who won the coin were notified first and then Australian winners were to be notified by email on the 23rd of November. One of the authors of this blog was lucky enough to receive a notification on the 24th. Last year there didn't seem to be any notification, just a mysterious charge on your credit card!
One of the big problems last year was the dealer allocation that took place and numerous eBay coin dealers selling multiples of the coin while collectors were lucky to get one. This doesn't seem to have taken place this year. We've been watching eBay closely and while the initial prices for the coin on the secondary market are steep there doesn't seem to be anyone selling multiples of the coin and none of the sellers seem to be regular RAM dealers. Perhaps the outcry from last year had some effect! One thing is clear, the issue was heavily over-subscribed and many collectors will be forced to pony up a hefty amount over the $420 issue price to get one of these for their collection. The Australian coin forums we regularly read show collectors who missed out on this issue far outnumber those who were lucky enough to get one.
At the time of writing there were 10 2010 $25 Gold Proof Kangaroo at Sunset coins listed on eBay, 4 buy it nows for $1600 to $1995, and 6 auctions ranging in price from $999 to $1125. It appears that just 3 of the coins have successfully sold so far on eBay, for $1500, $1550, and $1900. All of these were buy it nows with best offers accepted so it is clear the sellers were keen to cash in for quick profits. It will certainly be interesting to see what the realised prices are for the current auctions so we can get a good idea of what collectors are willing to pay for this scarce issue.
Addendum: There appears to be one seller with two of these coins listed on eBay. As one member of a forum we frequent suggested, perhaps his dog was successful in the ballot!
Update 7 December 2009: The RAM must have shipped out the coins to customers last week as the number of coins listed on eBay in the last 4 days has surged to 26 and a number of them are using their own photos instead of using the stock RAM image of the coin. In addition 3 auctions finished on the weekend for $1350, 1352, and $1360 so it appears that the market is setting the price at around $1300-$1400.
Posted by mnemtsas at December 3, 2009 8:51 AM
Subscribe to our Newsletter
