The 1998 Year of the Tiger issue marked Perth Mint's continuation of its Lunar Series I, which launched in 1996 with the Year of the Rat. Tiger years have historically driven stronger secondary market demand within the series — the tiger carries particular cultural weight in southern Chinese tradition, and Perth's Asian export market was well established by the late 1990s. The series would later be retroactively recognized as the first complete 12-year lunar cycle struck to .9999 fineness by any sovereign mint.
The 1998 Year of the Tiger issue marked Perth Mint's continuation of its Lunar Series I, which launched in 1996 with the Year of the Rat. Tiger years have historically driven stronger secondary market demand within the series — the tiger carries particular cultural weight in southern Chinese tradition, and Perth's Asian export market was well established by the late 1990s. The series would later be retroactively recognized as the first complete 12-year lunar cycle struck to .9999 fineness by any sovereign mint.