Most Australians spend a good part of their lives keeping redbacks out of the shed, the letterbox and the underside of the outdoor furniture. The Perth Mint has gone the other way. The Jewelled Redback Spider 2026 2oz Gold Proof Coin mounts a hand sculpted redback in 18-carat gold on a 2-ounce proof coin of 99.99% pure gold, covers its body in 47 black diamonds and marks its famous stripe with a single red ruby. Only 60 will be made, at an issue price of AUD 35,000 each.
It is a strange and rather brilliant choice of subject for a piece of haute joaillerie. Jewelled coins usually reach for the beautiful, a tiger, a turtle, a flower. This one reaches for the creature that sends people running for the insect spray, and makes the case that the redback was always a jewel to begin with: black, glossy, and marked with a flash of red that every Australian child learns to recognise.
A Spider Built Like a Brooch
The reverse is where the coin earns its price. A three dimensional redback stands proud of the field, sculpted by hand in 18-carat gold and finished in black rhodium plating so the metal reads as the spider’s natural gloss rather than as gold. The body is pavé set with black diamonds, around 1 carat in total across 47 stones. At the centre sits the ruby, roughly 0.17 carat, standing in for the red dorsal stripe that gives the species its name.
The spider does not float on a bare field. It is suspended in a tangled web, a separate 3-gram element also worked in 18-carat gold, so that the gold of the web catches the light against the darkened body. Together the spider and web account for 7.80 grams of applied 18-carat gold, over and above the 2 ounces of fine gold in the coin itself. With everything in place the piece stands up to 0.49 inches (12.50 mm) high, on a coin of up to 1.61 inches (40.90 mm) across.
The Perth Mint’s behind the scenes material makes the point that this is jewellers’ work rather than minting in the usual sense. Artisans sculpt each spider individually and set every stone by hand, and photographs released with the coin show finished spiders lined up on a jeweller’s board before mounting. Sixty of them is a small run for a coin. For hand built jewellery it is a considerable one.
The Outback Behind the Web
Look past the spider and the coin tells a quieter story. The background shows a lone windmill and a weathered farm fence on a parched, sunburnt landscape, the kind of rural Australian scene where redbacks have always made themselves at home. The legend reads THE JEWELLED REDBACK SPIDER 2026, alongside The Perth Mint’s P mintmark. The design is credited to Ing Ing Jong.
The Mint frames the redback as an emblem of resilience, a survivor shaped by hard country and as captivating as it is feared. That is marketing language, but it is not wrong. The redback is one of the most instantly recognisable animals on the continent, and The Perth Mint has returned to it before, from a map shaped silver coin in 2015 to a coloured 1-ounce silver redback in its Deadly and Dangerous range this year.
The obverse carries the Dan Thorne effigy of King Charles III and a face value of AUD 200, making the coin Australian legal tender.
Presentation to Match
The packaging leans fully into the theme. The coin arrives in a black display box with a glass lid, overlaid with a black web pattern. Opening it reveals the coin set into a top shelf that can be magnetically secured upright for display, above a drawer that holds handling gloves. A numbered certificate of authenticity accompanies each coin, and the whole box sits inside an outer black case lined in red, the redback’s colours carried right through to the outer case.
Where It Sits in the Perth Mint’s Jewelled Range
Collectors who follow The Perth Mint’s high end output will recognise the name. The Mint’s Jewelled Series, developed with Argyle pink diamond specialist Glajz-THG, reached its seventh release with the Jewelled Turtle in 2024, a 10-ounce gold proof limited to 8 pieces and set with Argyle pink diamonds, white diamonds and emeralds. Coin World reported its issue price at AUD 269,000.
The Jewelled Redback shares the name and the jeweller’s approach, but very little of the template. It is a 2-ounce coin rather than a 10-ounce one, it is issued in 60 pieces rather than 8, and its stones are black diamonds and a ruby rather than Argyle pinks. The Perth Mint’s product listing does not describe it as part of the Jewelled Series, and WNN has not seen the Mint confirm either way. What the numbers do show is a deliberate move into a different tier: hand set gold and gemstone work at roughly an eighth of the Turtle’s price, and in more than seven times the quantity.
Jewelled Redback Spider 2026 at a Glance
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Issuer | The Perth Mint |
| Fine gold content | 2 oz, 99.99% pure |
| Applied jewellery | 18-carat gold spider (4.8 g, black rhodium plated) and web (3 g) |
| Gemstones | 47 black diamonds (approx. 1.00 ct total), 1 ruby (approx. 0.17 ct) |
| Denomination | AUD 200, Australian legal tender |
| Diameter | Up to 1.61 in (40.90 mm) |
| Height including spider | Up to 0.49 in (12.50 mm) |
| Finish | Proof |
| Maximum mintage | 60 |
| Reverse designer | Ing Ing Jong |
| Obverse | Dan Thorne effigy of King Charles III |
| Issue price | AUD 35,000 |
| Product code | 26V20AAA |
A Small Spider, a Short Run
At the time of writing, the coin is listed on backorder, and The Perth Mint warns that any order containing it will see dispatch delayed. That is not unusual for hand finished work, and with 60 pieces worldwide it is unlikely to affect who ends up owning one.
The Jewelled Redback Spider 2026 is a coin that wins its argument by sheer nerve. It takes an animal most people would rather not look at, renders it in gold and gemstones with the care usually reserved for a crown jewel, and dares the collector to call it anything other than beautiful. For The Perth Mint, it also opens a new and more attainable rung on its jewelled ladder. For the 60 people who own one, it is the only redback they will ever want to find in the house.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Jewelled Redback Spider 2026 coin? The Jewelled Redback Spider 2026 is a 2oz gold proof coin from The Perth Mint with a hand sculpted redback spider mounted on its reverse. The spider is made in 18-carat gold, set with 47 black diamonds and a ruby, and sits in an 18-carat gold web. It is Australian legal tender with a face value of AUD 200.
How many Jewelled Redback Spider coins are being made? The Perth Mint has set a maximum mintage of 60 coins. Each is accompanied by a numbered certificate of authenticity.
How much does the Jewelled Redback Spider coin cost? The Perth Mint’s issue price is AUD 35,000. That price covers the 2 ounces of fine gold in the coin, the 18-carat gold spider and web, the diamonds and ruby, and the presentation case.
Are the diamonds and the ruby real? Yes. The spider’s body is set with 47 black diamonds totalling about 1 carat, and its red stripe is a ruby of about 0.17 carat. The Perth Mint says the stones are set by hand.
Is the spider made of solid gold? The spider is 18-carat gold weighing 4.8 grams, plated in black rhodium to give it the redback’s glossy black finish. The web is a separate 3-gram piece of 18-carat gold. These 7.80 grams of applied gold are in addition to the 2 ounces of 99.99% pure gold in the coin itself.
Is the Jewelled Redback Spider part of the Perth Mint’s Jewelled Series? The Perth Mint’s product listing does not say so. It shares the Jewelled name with earlier pieces such as the 2024 Jewelled Turtle, but differs sharply from them: it is a 2oz coin rather than 10oz, has a mintage of 60 rather than 8, and uses black diamonds and a ruby rather than Argyle pink diamonds.
Can I still order one? The coin is listed on The Perth Mint’s website on backorder. The Mint warns that dispatch of any order containing the coin will be delayed.
