Golden legacy

The Australian Nugget was the first legal tender gold coin program to be manufactured by The Perth Mint since the completion of sovereign production in 1931. 
Debuting in 1986, the coins were struck in four denominations with artistic representations celebrating historic Australian natural gold nuggets by world-renowned Australian goldsmith and numismatic designer Stuart Devlin.

Welcome Stranger design

Pulled from the archives, the coin’s reverse showcases a design Devlin completed for the original program—yet was never released on a coin. The design depicts the Welcome Stranger, the largest nugget ever recorded. Unearthed by prospectors John Deason and Richard Oates at Moliagul, Victoria in February 1869, their 2,284 ounces find was too large for the scales and had to be broken into three pieces before being weighed.