Continuing a coin series dating back to the early 1980’s, new Chinese Panda silver and gold commemorative coins have been issued by the Shenzhen Guobao Mint. The precious metal coins actually debuted late last year and feature a new reverse containing the image of a mother panda and her cub.
A total of ten different Panda coins have been issued for 2012, including seven struck from .999 fine gold and three composed from .999 fine silver. These coins are available exclusively through China Gold Coin Incorporation, a branch of the People’s Bank of China, and its world-wide distribution partners.
Maximum mintages for the new issues vary drastically, ranging from just 500 of the 10000 Yuan Gold Panda coin to 8 million of the 10 Yuan Silver Panda coin. A complete listing of mintages for the commemoratives along with their specification is provided in the charts below:
Gold Panda Coins – Specifications and Maximum Mintage
|
FACE VALUE
|
GOLD CONTENT
|
DIAMETER
|
MAXIMUM MINTAGE
|
|
20 Yuan
|
1/20 troy oz
|
14 mm
|
800,000
|
|
50 Yuan
|
1/10 troy oz
|
18 mm
|
800,000
|
|
100 Yuan
|
1/4 troy oz
|
22 mm
|
600,000
|
|
200 Yuan
|
1/2 troy oz
|
27 mm
|
600,000
|
|
500 Yuan
|
1 troy oz
|
32 mm
|
600,000
|
|
2000 Yuan
|
5 troy oz
|
60 mm
|
5,000
|
|
10,000 Yuan
|
1 kg
|
90 mm
|
500
|
Silver Panda Coins – Specifications and Maximum Mintage
|
FACE VALUE
|
SILVER CONTENT
|
DIAMETER
|
MAXIMUM MINTAGE
|
|
10 Yuan
|
1 troy oz
|
40 mm
|
8,000,000
|
|
50 Yuan
|
5 troy oz
|
70 mm
|
50,000
|
|
300 Yuan
|
1 kg
|
100 mm
|
20,000
|
Panda coins first appeared from China in 1982 with the release of the first gold versions. Those issues were extremely popular with both collectors and investors and led to Chinese Panda silver coins in the following year. With just a few exceptions, both series have appeared annually since those inaugural strikes.
The commemoratives are struck by the minting facilities of the People’s Bank of China. As official bullion coins of the nation, each features a guarantee by China for their purity, weight, and content giving them a high level of liquidity world-wide.
Panda Coin Designs
A mother Panda and her cub are shown on the reverse of each silver and gold coin with bamboo shoots appearing behind them. The face value of each is inscribed above the design with the content and purity below.
The obverse of the coins shows a depiction of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (The Temple of Heaven) as seen in Beijing. Surrounding the temple are the inscriptions of People’s Republic of China in Chinese characters and the year.
About the People’s Bank of China
The People’s Bank of China (www.pbc.gov.cn) is the central bank of the People’s Republic of China and is responsible for the currency and coin production of the nation as well as the distribution of such. It accomplishes the monumental task through several branch agencies including minting facilities and distribution partnerships.
