Silver Panda Coins


2010 & 2009 Silver Pandas
 (photo by sirquitos*)
The Silver Panda Coins are issued by the People’s Republic of China.  They range in size and denomination from 0.5 troy oz (5 Yuan) to 1 kilogram (300 Yuan) and are also available in gold.  The 1oz (10 Yuan) silver coin is a popular coin for collectors.  China started production in 1983, creating proof and frosted proof silver coins sometimes with other variations.
The Chinese Panda Coins (China has and does produce other silver coin series) are a popular series and collected as numismatic coins.  Although there are many who distribute these coins the China Gold Coin Corporation (CGCC) is the official distributor in China and since 1982 the official distributor in the United States has been Panda America.

The obverse has a depiction of the Temple of Heaven, which is a Taoist temple built from 1406 to 1420 in Beijing. It has Chinese characters encircling the top which translate as “People’s Republic of China” and the date at the bottom.  There are some coins with various themes which are noted on the bottom.


The reverse has a Panda and motif which changes every year.  Sometimes there are more than one panda.  The denomination 10 (Yuan) with the Chinese character appears on all of the Pandas.  From 1987 on “.999 1 oz Ag” is displayed, from 1987 through 1991 the Chinese characters are also printed.  Proof coins are marked with a “P” enclosed in a circle (much like the signs for ‘copyright’ or ‘registered’ are).  The 2002 has the same design as the 2001.


The 1oz silver Panda produced in 1983, 1984, and 1985 are 90% silver weighing 27 grams (24.3 grams of silver) and have a diameter of 38.6 mm.  There were no silver 1oz Panda produced in 1986 or in 1988.  The 1987 1oz silver Panda coin is 92.5% silver and weighs 31.1 grams.


The 1oz silver Panda coins produced from 1989 to now are 99.9% (fine) silver.  They weight 31.1 grams (with the exception of some 1997 coins which had a gold insert - raising the weight to 31.22 grams) and are 40mm in diameter.  Besides the offering of Proof condition coins uncirculated coins are also offered since 1989.


During the 2001 run some of the 1oz Silver Panda coins have a “D” added to the reverse.  Chinese coins in general do not have a Mint Mark to denote where they were minted, however sometimes the size of the characters are different from mint to mint from year to year.   Although in 1995 the Shenyang mint had a large and small lettering variation on the reverse.  The Pandas are also minted in Shanghai and Shenzhen GouBao.


In 2006 a large number of counterfeit 1oz Silver Pandas started appearing, apparently from eBay sellers in China, of a variety of quality.  Most of which can be spotted because they don’t have the denomination on them, or their silver content is low. So, even though they have the ‘1oz Ag .999’ they will not weigh what they should.

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