The Isle of Man's Koala series was produced under a licensing arrangement with the Australian Koala program, part of a broader strategy by the Manx government in the 1980s to issue bullion-adjacent collector coins tied to popular wildlife themes. The island's treasury was notably aggressive in this period, flooding the market with gold issues across dozens of themes simultaneously — a volume that kept secondary market premiums thin on most types.
KM#287 at .948 fineness sits at an unusual purity, neither the standard .999 of modern bullion nor the traditional .9167 crown gold.
The Isle of Man's Koala series was produced under a licensing arrangement with the Australian Koala program, part of a broader strategy by the Manx government in the 1980s to issue bullion-adjacent collector coins tied to popular wildlife themes. The island's treasury was notably aggressive in this period, flooding the market with gold issues across dozens of themes simultaneously — a volume that kept secondary market premiums thin on most types.
KM#287 at .948 fineness sits at an unusual purity, neither the standard .999 of modern bullion nor the traditional .9167 crown gold.