Buy Silver Emu Coins – Australia's Flightless Giant in Fine Silver
The Silver Emu series from the Perth Mint celebrates the Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) – Australia's largest bird and the world's second-largest living bird by height – in annual-design 999.9/1,000 fine silver coins. With 9 products at CelticGold, this is a focused annual-design programme sharing the Perth Mint's characteristic quality with a subject uniquely Australian.
The Emu holds a remarkable place in Australian culture: it features alongside the Kangaroo on Australia's coat of arms (both were chosen partly because neither animal can walk backwards – symbolising a nation that only moves forward). Standing up to 1.9 metres tall and capable of running at 50 km/h, the Emu is one of the few large birds with calf muscles, giving it a distinctive two-phase gait. During Australia's infamous Great Emu War of 1932, the Australian Army was deployed to Western Australia to cull Emus threatening wheat crops – and effectively lost.