Britannia 1 oz or Kangaroo 1 oz: which is the better buy today?
Britannia 1 oz and Kangaroo 1 oz hold the same gold — 31.10 g of fine metal each — and differ in everything else: Britannia 1 oz is struck in 999.9 ‰ · 24 kt by The Royal Mint, Kangaroo 1 oz in 999.9 ‰ · 24 kt by The Perth Mint. With the metal identical, the only thing left to compare is what each dealer charges above it.
| coin | Britannia 1 oz | Kangaroo 1 oz |
|---|---|---|
| fine gold | 31.10 g | 31.10 g |
| gross weight | 31.10 g | 31.10 g |
| purity | 999.9 ‰ · 24 kt | 999.9 ‰ · 24 kt |
| diameter | 32.69 mm | 32.1 mm |
| thickness | 2.79 mm | 2.60 mm |
| face value | 100 pounds | 100 dollars |
| struck | United Kingdom · since 1987 | Australia · since 1986 |
The prices come from the feed, and the feed has not answered yet.
Britannia 1 oz — Struck in 999.9 gold since 2013 — earlier ones are 22 carat. Legal tender in the United Kingdom, which is what exempts it from capital gains tax there.
Kangaroo 1 oz — Perth’s one-ounce coin, struck in pure gold since 1986 and redesigned every year — the reverse is a different kangaroo each time.
Both are struck in 999.9 ‰ · 24 kt: the same alloy, the same feel in the hand, and any difference on the scale is a difference in gold.
Both are modern bullion coins, struck for investors — Britannia 1 oz since 1987, Kangaroo 1 oz since 1986 — and priced on their metal and the margins above it.
So the comparison is the premium. Whichever of the two a dealer asks less for above its metal is the cheaper gold that day — and that changes shop by shop and day by day, which is what the numbers above are for.