Chinese Panda from €60 per troy ounce

Origin and issuer

The Chinese Panda is issued in China by the People's Bank of China, as legal tender.

China Gold Coin Incorporation (CGCI) is the official distributor in China for the silver and gold Panda. In the United States, Panda America of Martin Weiss received an official distributorship from the China Mint.

History

The gold Panda appeared in 1982, in four sizes: 1, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 ounce, .999 fine. The first silver Panda was struck in 1983, a year after the series began: a proof of 27 grams, with a mintage of 10,000. In 1987 a one-ounce proof Panda followed.

From ounce to 30 grams

Since 2016 the Pandas have been metric. The coin of 1 troy ounce then became 30 grams and the coin of 5 troy ounces became 150 grams. Older years are therefore 1 oz, the new ones 30 g.

The reason is that China counts in grams. In 2016 the silver 10 yuan coin and the gold 500 yuan coin weighed 30 grams; the smaller gold sizes weighed 15, 8, 3 and 1 gram. The fineness remained .999.

Design

For the first coins of 1982 the Mint chose a drawing of a seated panda by Chen Jian. After that the design changes every year, except in 2001 and 2002, which share the same design.

Composition

The gold coins listed on the Shanghai Gold Exchange have a fineness of at least 99.9% and weigh 30 grams. The first silver Pandas contain 27 grams of silver of 0.900 fineness and measure 38.6 mm.

Face value

Silver Pandas exist from half a troy ounce up to 1 kilogram. They have been issued in 3, 5, 10, 50, 100, 200 and 300 yuan.