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Brief History of the Chinese Silver Panda Coin |
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The People's Bank of China began producing Silver Panda coins in 1983, inspired by the production of the Gold Panda Coin series, which began in 1982. Coins were not issued in the Silver Panda Coin series in 1986 or 1988, but coins have been issued in every other year. Originally minted in Shanghai, the mintage was expanded in 1990 to Shenyang and again in 1999 to Shenzhen due to the popularity of the Silver Panda coin series. The coins are distributed by the China Gold Coin Incorporation and Just like silver maples in Canada and silver eagles in the USA and Philharmonic coins in Austria, Pandas are legal Chinese tender. The ever-popular panda bear, a recognizable symbol of China, has its image engraved on each coin, with a different visage used for each coin in the series, with the exception of 2001 and 2002. |
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The same panda image was used in those two years. Panda images have included a panda in a bamboo grove (2001/2002), a panda and baby eating bamboo (2005) and a panda and baby pulling the leaves from bamboo (2007). The opposite side of the coin contains an image of Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the Temple of Heaven, a Ming Dynasty temple located in the southern part of Beijing. Each coin also contains the year minted, the words "People's Republic of China" and, in the case of special editions, the theme. As the price of silver has risen over the last few years, the popularity of the Silver Panda Coin series has encouraged the People's Bank of China to offer the coin in several variations, including a collector's series, colored coins, proof coins and gilded coins. The coins are offered in different face value amounts, and the value of the 1 ounce coins is backed by the People's Republic of China, a fact which attracts investors. Earlier issuances of the coins did not have standardized weights or silver purity, although the Silver Panda Coins are now minted with 1 troy ounce of .999 fine silver. |
By Buysilvercoins.org.uk Wednesday, March 02, 2011 - Site map - Privacy policy |