5 Dollars - Elizabeth II 3rd Portrait - Koala - Platinum

The Perth Mint's platinum koala series launched in 1988, making it one of the earliest government-issued platinum bullion programs globally — predating many sovereign competitors. By the mid-to-late 1990s, platinum was trading at or near parity with gold, which kept premiums on these fractional pieces sharp and demand from Japanese investors particularly strong.

KM# 338 covers the 1997–1998 issues under Ian Rank-Broadley's third effigy, adopted across Australian coinage from 1998. The 1997 pieces thus represent the final year of the Raphael Maklouf portrait on this denomination before the transition.