The Austrian Mint, or Munze Osterreich, is a public limited mint closely associated with Austria's Central Bank. It is well-known for its quality bullion products and penchant for creating unique collectible coins that few refineries or mints can compare with.
History
The Austrian Mint’s activity can be traced all the way back to 1194 when Duke Leopold V received 15 tons of silver from Richard the Lionheart in exchange for his freedom after being captured. With 15 tons of pure silver at his disposal, Duke Leopold V created the first Austrian mint to turn that silver into silver coins to be used as the region’s currency.
This rudimentary mint gave way to a slew of mints and refineries across the region; one of which was the Vienna Principal Mint. The Vienna Principal Mint moved locations several times before the 1800s when it gained its namesake and settled in Central Vienna; the current-day headquarters for the Austrian Mint.
While competition came and went over the centuries, Vienna Principal Mint eventually became the sole producer of genuine Austrian mint coins and bullion in 1919. This was due to the founding of the Republic of Austria in the same year. The new government structure aligned closely with Vienna Principal Mint for its currency and financial management until 1989 when it finally adopted the mint as a subsidiary of the Central Bank and renamed the mint Munze Osterreich –Austrian Mint- to reflect its new standing as a government-backed mint.
However, the mint was not known for its precious metal production and distribution until the 1990s, when the gold Philharmonic coin was released. Before then, the Austrian Mint was solely responsible for producing the Austrian shilling coins used as currency in the country.
In 2002, the mint expanded greatly to include the production of Euro coins and bullion that is sold publicly to investors and collectors. The mint is in charge of molding, stamping, and managing both the nation’s currency and its bullion reserves for domestic and foreign trade purposes.
Today, the Austrian Mint takes on much more than simply pressing currency.
The Austrian Mint also creates and sells standard bullion products such as rounds and bars of various sizes and metal contents, but they have also begun creating some of the most impressive collectible bullion coins available.
Beyond that, it's interesting to note that not all of the Austrian Mint's productions are sold publicly or used as Austrian currency.
The mint also produces a large number of blank coins. Those blank coins are purchased by the governments of other nations to produce their own currencies when either their own government mints can't keep up with their economy's currency needs or when it is more economically feasible to simply stamp blanks for currency rather than controlling the entire manufacturing process from refining to stamping in-house.
This makes the Austrian Mint one of the most flexible mints in the world, and its unique offerings give investors and collectors a reason to source their bullion from Austria rather than various other options.
Products
The Austrian Mint publicly sells a large variety of bullion products in a variety of metals, sizes, and formats.
In the following sections, we will outline the most popular and investment-worthy products offered by the Austrian Mint in detail; covering size, metal type, design theme, and format options that are available for each one.
Austrian Mint's gold Philharmonic coins are a must-have inclusion in any gold investor's collection. These gold coins were the first coins the mint produced with an elaborate theme about them in 1989 when the Austrian Mint became a central bank subsidiary. They are also the only themed bullion coins the mint has consistently sold year after year since their conception; the vast majority of other designed coins receive highly limited runs.
These coins were made to honor and commemorate Austria’s world-renowned Philharmonic Orchestra, and each coin illustrates the string instruments used by the orchestra as well as a pipe organ on the obverse.
The Philharmonic coin is available in a range of sizes.
All of the philharmonic gold coins have a legal tender value in Euros. However, earlier issues of the gold philarmonic before 2002 were issued with Schilling face values.
The coin's 'legal tender value' is the value at which each coin is guaranteed by the government of Austria. These coins are officially recognised by the government of Austria, and the Austrian goverment has guaranteed to back each coin to that value. Although the legal tender value of each coin is much less than the coin's value based on its gold content, the fact that these coins are backed by a European government does add to their reliability and makes them popular with investors.
Special Edition Philharmonics
The Austrian Mint has developed two special, and extremely large, commemorative coins for both its 15th and 20th anniversary.
First, there is the "Big Phil". This massive Philharmonic gold coin was struck to commemorate fifteen years of production, and it was struck using an unbelievable 1000 Troy ounces of .9999 gold. While visually just an enlarged version of the 1989 Philharmonic coin, these larger versions are worth more than 100,000 Euros, and only 15 of them were ever made.
Then, the Austrian Mint celebrated the coin's 20th year of production; albeit, the mint didn’t create such an elaborate piece for the 20th anniversary. Instead, the 20th-anniversary coin is made with 20 Troy ounces of .9999 gold worth 14,000 Euros. These were also made in a much larger quantity with 6028 coins being struck in total and distributed evenly (2009 coins each) to America, Europe, and Japan.
Regardless of which coin or coins you purchase, you will enjoy an obverse engraving with the Philharmonic Orchestra’s legendary pipe organ, the purity rating, weight, and Republik Oesterreich printed along its face. On the reverse, a large cello is flanked by two violins, and various orchestra instruments are noted in the background with the German words “Weiner Philharmoniker” stamped in place.
This is the most sought-after gold coin in Europe, and it’s sure to appease any gold investor.
The Silver Philharmonics coins follow the same design as the gold philharmonic.
Relatively new, the Silver Philharmonics line of coins was released in 2008 to global praise, and they quickly ascended to the top-selling silver coin in Europe, and among the top-selling coins globally. This is due to the mint’s dedication to quality and the vast array of options that leads to extreme collectability for the series.
Unlike the gold variant, silver Philharmonic coins are regularly released with variations on the standard design. However, the standard silver Philharmonic coin shares the same design as the gold version with the exception of its metal obviously being silver and its purity rating being .999 silver; which is labeled as such on the obverse side of the coin.
Also, unlike the gold version, you will not find fractional coins in various sizes. Instead, the silver variant is only available in 1 Troy ounce coins. This limits your buying potential to 1-ounce increments, however it makes it easy to invest in silver Philharmonics incrementally.
The silver Philharmonic coins are available with a number of purchasing options. For standard coin presentations, you can purchase single coins protected by individual plastic sleeves, 25-coin tubes, or 500-coin boxes separated into 25 tubes.
The Philharmonics platinum coins aren’t as popular as the gold or silver options, but they are high-value wealth-holders that exhibit the same level of detail and importance as the gold Philharmonics coins, and they are commonly purchased by investors due to their high and stable value.
Relatively new, the platinum Philharmonics coin was debuted in 2016. As such, it currently has only one version available; you can find the platinum Philharmonics coin in 1 Troy ounce, and it shares the same original design as the gold coin.
Platinum Philharmonics coins release annually and are produced to meet demand.
Austrian Mint’s gold bars are some of the finest on the global market. The mint upholds all Good Delivery standards to facilitate its legal trade worldwide, and each bar contains 999.9 pure 24-karat gold.
Cast bars are available in a wide variety of sizes from 1-gram to 1-kilo bars, and each one features the stamped name of the mint, its purity rating, weight, and serial number along with an assay to assure easy verification of authenticity.
The Good Delivery gold bars from the Austrian Mint have no face value. They are valued on the fluctuating price of gold on the global market instead of being used as a currency and they do not have a legal tender value.
It is worth noting that, while the Austrian Mint mints the bars, they are not produced by an Austrian refinery. Instead, the Austrian Mint relies on the Argor-Heraeus SA refinery, which is a Swiss based private refinery, for the production of all of its Good Delivery bars.
Gold Kinebars are almost identical to the standard cast bars, or Good Delivery bars as Austrian Mint calls them, besides one major feature.
Like the standard gold bars, you can purchase gold Kinebars in a variety of sizes between 1-gram and 100-grams. The obverse features the same information including its size, purity, mint name, and serial number. However, there is an extra visual and functional element added to Kinebars.
The Kinebar line from Austrian Mint features a Kinegram or a hologram that is laser-engraved into each bar.
The hologram’s main purpose is added security. As it is far harder to counterfeit, it helps prevent counterfeit bars from being made without detection. A secondary effect of this is that it instills more confidence in buyers due to the increased security and ease of verification a Kinegram provides.
The hologram does also add an even more noticeable luxurious touch to what would otherwise be a standard, yet extremely high-quality, gold bar.
The price of both the kinebars and the cast bars are based on the current market spot price, plus a premium which reflects their cost of manufacture.
How to Buy Austrian Mint Bullion
If you’ve taken an interest in any of the products highlighted above, you may purchase them directly from SuisseGold.com.
At Suisse Gold, we offer all of these bullion products and more with an unmatched dedication to ensuring verifiable quality, unparalleled customer service, and transaction perks that set us apart from the various other bullion dealers on the market.
All orders can be paid for with one of 20 different international currencies, and we have recently adopted 8 various cryptocurrencies to accommodate the growing interest in crypto investments among our clientele.
Orders can also be placed in two different ways to match our clients’ needs. If you would prefer to have personal control over the storage and safety of your bullion, you may opt for our secure delivery service. However, for investors who prefer, we also offer secure storage in a secure vault in Switzerland. Secure storage allow allows for VAT-free transactions for all European clients ordering silver, palladium, or platinum products. This reduces transaction costs and maximizes your end return on investment (ROI) by limiting the upfront cost of investment.