The Perth Mint's Lunar Series I launched with this 1996 Rat issue, inaugurating what would become one of the most commercially successful bullion programs in the Asia-Pacific market. Demand was driven almost entirely by Southeast Asian and diaspora Chinese buyers, for whom the twelve-year cycle carries genuine cultural weight — the Year of the Rat marks the start of the zodiac cycle itself, giving this first release an additional collector premium that subsequent years in the series never quite matched.
The Perth Mint's Lunar Series I launched with this 1996 Rat issue, inaugurating what would become one of the most commercially successful bullion programs in the Asia-Pacific market. Demand was driven almost entirely by Southeast Asian and diaspora Chinese buyers, for whom the twelve-year cycle carries genuine cultural weight — the Year of the Rat marks the start of the zodiac cycle itself, giving this first release an additional collector premium that subsequent years in the series never quite matched.