100 Dollars - Elizabeth II Australia's Tarantula

Perth Mint has produced spider-themed bullion issues with some regularity, but this particular release belongs to a broader naturalist series drawing on Australia's endemic arachnid fauna. The eastern tarantula — more precisely a member of the Selenocosmia genus — is native to Queensland and inland New South Wales, where it preys on small lizards and even frogs. It is not a true tarantula by Old World taxonomy, but the common name stuck through colonial-era usage and has never been officially corrected.

One-ounce .9999 gold issues from Perth in this period were struck to proof standard with mintages typically capped under 1,000 pieces.