What do ' maximum mintage ', ' declared mintage ', and ' issue limit ' mean?
If you’ ve ever pondered terms like‘ maximum mintage’,‘ declared mintage’, and‘ issue limit’, this article is here to help.
MAXIMUM MINTAGE
Mints keep historical records of how many coins they strike and issue. The total number for each coin is known as the mintage. Thanks to mintage records at The Perth Mint we know that we made precisely 690,992 gold sovereigns 125 years ago in 1899.
Mintage figures are valuable to collectors because they provide guidance about‘ rarity’.
Today, the vast majority of our modern collectables are issued with a specific mintage limit. For example, our 125th Anniversary 2024 1oz Silver Proof Coin has a maximum mintage of 10,000. This means The Perth Mint will issue no more than 10,000 of these coins.
Say we receive orders over the next few months for the maximum mintage, production will cease immediately and we’ ll announce the coin as‘ sold out’. Collectors can be 100 % certain that we’ ll never make any more.