Monday, December 21, 2009

Year 2009: Ox Fan-Shaped Chinese Silver Coin

Specifications:
1 oz 99.9% fineness
Face value - 10 Yuan
Mintage - 66,000

Obverse:

Reverse:

Price range (shipped): S$89 - 126

Year 2008: Rat Fan-Shaped Chinese Silver Coin

Specifications:
1 oz 99.9% fineness
Face value - 10 Yuan
Mintage - 66,000

Reverse:


Obverse:

Price range (shipped): S$77 - 135

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Year 2007: Pig Fan-Shaped Chinese Silver Coin

The obverse of the Year of Pig version depicts the Bian Jing Gate (边靖楼) section of the Great Wall. In 2H 2009, this is version, together with Year of Ox, has the highest number (8) of transactions.

Specifications:
1 oz 99.9% fineness
Face value - 10 Yuan
Mintage: 66,000

Obverse:
Photo to follow

Reverse:

Price range (shipped): S$75 - 136

Year 2006: Dog Fan-Shaped Chinese Silver Coin

The Year of Dog version is the next most expensive after the Year of Snake. The obverse depicts the Qing Yuan Gate (清远楼) section of the Great Wall. Year 2006 is also the year when China Gold Corp stopped issuing coins in double seal. The Year of Dog version is issued with capsule in the box with COA.




Specifications:
1 oz 99.9% fineness
Face value - 10 Yuan
Mintage: 66,000

Price range (shipped): S$144

Year 2005: Rooster Fan-Shaped Chinese Silver Coin

As I write this, the 2010 Tiger version has been issued. By far, this is my favourite design of the series, excluding the Rabbit. The frosted background of the rooster side is beautiful and the strike of the rooster has high relief. The obverse depicts the Ju Yong Gate (居庸关) section of the Great Wall - a section quite different from the rest of the years.

Specifications:
1 oz 99.9% fineness
Face value - 10 Yuan
Mintage: 66,000

Obverse:


Reverse:

Price range (shipped): S$68 - 117

Year 2004: Monkey Fan-Shaped Chinese Silver Coin

The Year of Monkey 1 oz silver fan-shaped coin, like in 2003, shares the same design on its reverse as the 5 oz rectangular coin. The obverse depicts the Ba Da Ling (八达岭) section of the Great Wall.

Specifications:
1 oz 99.9% fineness
Face value - 10 Yuan
Mintage - 66,000

Obverse:


Reverse:

Price range (shipped): S$93

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Year 2003: Sheep Fan-Shaped Chinese Silver Coin

Some people call it sheep, others, goat. I would call it sheep simply because the reverse of the coin shows a family of sheep - a ram, ewe and lamb. The obverse, Mu Tian Yu Section of the Great Wall (慕田峪长城).
Specifications:
1 oz 99.9% fineness
Face value - 10 Yuan
Mintage - 66,000

Obverse:
Reverse:


Price range (shipped): S$72 - 102

Year 2002: Horse Fan-Shaped Chinese Silver Coin

This is the key-dated to the series for no real reason (to me, given the same mintage). I do not know its issue price but its current price is 5-fold of the rest of the series though in recent months, I see a very slight decline in price. The obverse depicts the Tianjin Huang Ya section of the Great Wall (天津长城黃崖关口). The reverse has the same two running horses as the 1 kg version of the round lunar series. Similarly, I do not own this coin because I have yet to feel compelled or have the impulse to pay 5-fold or 20 times premium over spot.

Specifications:
1 oz 99.9% finess
Face value - 10 Yuan
Mintage - 66,000

Price range (shipped): S$507 - 535
NGC PF69 Ultra Cameo: S$534

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Year 2001: Snake Fan-Shaped Chinese Silver Coin

To date, the Year of Snake is the second most expensive in the series. It obverse depicts Cheng Hai ( 长 城澄海楼) section of the Great Wall while the reverse - the snake. At the point of writing, I do not own this coin as I'm still on the look out for bargains thus I do not have photos for it.

Specifications:
1 oz 99.9% fineness
Face Value - 10 Yuan
Mintage - 66,000

Price Range (shipped): S$160 - 180


 
Finally bought the coin on 9 July 2013. Price was nearly US$200.

Year 2000: Dragon Fan-Shaped Chinese Silver Coin

Two years after China began minting Modern Chinese Coins, in 1981, the first Lunar gold and silver coins were produced. Nearly two decades later, in Year 2000, the innovative Chinese started to produce fan-shaped gold and silver coins that depicted the Lunar animals each year. Shenzhen Guobao Mint produced these coins such that when all 12 coins are put together, the silver coins would form the outer full circle while the gold coins would form the inner circle.

The gold version is proof-struck from 1/2 oz of 99.9% gold, with an outer radius of 58 mm while inner radius is 39 mm. It has a face value of 50 Yuan and a small mintage of 6,600. In the second half of 2009, there was only one transacted in international ebay at S$1,020 shipped while the NGC PF69 Ultra Cameo was transacted at S$1,348. These two transactions were done in July and August respectively, before gold price reached record high of US$1,226.

The silver version is a 1 oz BU version struck from 99.9% silver. Its outer radius measure 85 mm, inner radius of 60 mm. It has a face value of 10 Yuan and mintage of 66,000. Its transacted price ranges from S$148 to S$172.

Reverse:


Obverse:


Thursday, December 3, 2009

November Transacted Prices for Gold Panda

After tracking transacted price of Chinese Panda Gold Coin for 6 months, besides the 1982 and 1995 version, prices of the rest of the years follow rather closely to bullion price. Thus, I will cease tracking transacted price of the Gold Coin.

1982 - $3,709.42 (NGC MS67)
1983 - $1,756.64
1984 - $1,870.74
1985 - $1,729.23
1986 - $1,711.16
1987P - $1,792.56
1987Y - $1,749.57
1987S - $1,724.79
1988 - $1,765.81
1989 - $1,799.97
1990 - $1,758.21
1991 - $1,681.78
1992 - $1,692.14
1994 - $1,748.34
1995 - $2,361.96
1996 - $1,799.85
1997 - $1,678.23
1998 - $1,986.56
1999 -
2000 - $1,703.45
2001 - $1,640.38
2002 - $1,703.45
2003 - $1,725.04
2004 - $1,668.41
2005 -
2006 - $1,710.64
2007 -
2008 - $1,862.40 (PCGS MS69 First Strike)
2009 - $1,861.51

November Transacted Prices for Silver Panda

The 1989 version continued its climb from $40 in August to above $60. The 1992 Large Date version also leaped from $84 to $178, highest in 5 months. The 1996 Small Date version was also highest in 5 months with 50% increase from previous month. There were no 1999 version auctioned for the second successive month. Post-2000 version had fallen, notably the 2003 version continued its decline from $70 to $42 over 5 months. It is difficult to understand why 2003 and 2006 are asking higher prices given the same mintage.

However, the 2008 and 2009 version are making their way towards the $40 mark. Collectors seem to think that 2008 is the year China host the Olympics while 2009 is their 60th Anniversary. Do grab some if you able to get them cheap, especially for the 2008 as they are getting less transacted. There was a continual decline from August to November from 39 to 15, notably seller jim_teri did not have any transaction in November for the 2008 version. A similar trend is observed on 2009 version though not as scarce. The decline is from 111 to 49.

1989 62.24
1990L 51.06 1990S -
1991L 122.66 1991S 93.95
1992L 178.77 1992S -
1993L 73.34 1993S 85.66
1994L 102.61 1994S -
1995L 46.48 1995S 59.83
1996L 36.29 1996S 63.18
1997L - 1997S 50.18
1998L - 1998S 74.37
1999LP - 1999S - 1999LS -
2000F 132.82 2000M -
2001 39.99 2001D 42.71
2002 34.72
2003 42.81
2004 43.40
2005 34.14
2006 38.14
2007 34.51
2008 39.30
2009 37.46

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Fake - 2010 Chinese Lunar Tiger

Barely a month after the launch of the 2010 Chinese Lunar Tiger coins, the counterfeits has surfaced! Ebay seller xuemei828 has listed these counterfeit coins. While she has the slightest ethics in declaring that these are gold and silver plated coins, there would be many others who would pass it off as the genuine coins simply because there is no way to know by visually looking the the coins. It would be until it is being weighed that we would know. Alternatively, old-time coin collectors are aware that the newer issues of Chinese coins are no longer double-sealed, hence, photographs of double-sealed coins would likely to be deemed as counterfeits.

Another way would be to look and feel the Certificate of Authenticity (COA). The counterfeit COA is printed by high quality printers and hence, makes the genuine COA colour look pale and feint. In the 25-Coin Panda set, counterfeit COA does not have watermark. However, this counterfeit COA HAS watermark. The difference that can be felt is as the counterfeit feels flat while imprints could be seen and felt on the genuine COA. However, over time and after the coin and COA has crossed many hands, we may not be able to use this method to authenticate. This makes me wonder on the impact on slabbing the coins because while it seems safe to buy slabbed coins, the slabs could also be counterfeited together with the coins. Where does Chinese coin collection go from here?

2010 Chinese Panda Coin

The 2010 Chinese Panda coins would be issued by November 2009. There would be 7 gold and 3 silver panda coins for 2010.
The planned maximum mintage is as follows, previous year mintage in ( ):


GOLD
1 kilo: 200
5oz: 1,000
1oz: 300,000 (160,000)
1/2oz: 120,000 (60,000)
1/4oz: 120,000 (60,000)
1/10oz: 120,000 (100,000)
1/20oz: 120,000 (100,000)
SILVER
2010 Chinese Silver Panda Obverse

2010 Chinese Silver Panda Reverse

1 kilo: 4,000
5oz: 10,000
1oz: 800,000 (600,000)

The Chinese government is definitely encouraging more of their common People to hold physical precious metals by greatly increasing the mintage for the smaller denomination.

Within 1 month of issue, collectors began to spot the differences between the 2010 Silver Panda coins. It began with 2 varieties differentiated by their capsules - Shenzhen Guobao Mint uses capsules that has 3 hitches inside to keep the coin in position. It was observed that the Shenzhen produced coin had a frosty background of the bamboo.

Later on, other collectors also observed that from each mint, there are actually 2 varieties making it total of 4 varieties for the 2010 version of Silver Panda coins. The differences between the 4 varieties can be observed from the 'black' fur at the neck of the left panda and right hind leg of the right panda.


Total NGC graded: 16,959
MS70 (1,805); MS69 (11,705); MS68 (3,271); MS67 (117); MS66 (47); MS65 (7); MS64 (7)

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Fake - 2003 Silver Panda

Back in September, I bought a fake 2003 Silver Panda from ebay seller longlong65. I had suspected that it would be fake since he sprung up from no where to start selling silver pandas. Nonetheless, I got a second offer from him though I lost the bid. These fakes sellers would post photographs of genuine coins in double seal stolen from other genuine ebay coin sellers. And when questioned about the coin, these fakes sellers wouldn't be able to give you a proper answer. Like when I asked seller about the weight of the coin in grams, he could only reply me that it weighs 1 oz.

The fake coin was very well struck and it had the right diameter and thickness. Only when weighed, we could tell it is a fake. The fake weighed only 26.5g, which is still less than the 1 oz that he claimed. The tussle went on for a month and paypal required me to send the item back and provide a tracking number. This was done and I had to continue the wait till I wrote to ebay this time asking ebay to show paypal the record of this seller who made his feedback rating private probably after many negative feedback received. After a few days, paypal replied that they would refund the money.

Photos of genuine vs counterfeit:



Saturday, November 7, 2009

1984 Chinese Historical Figures Silver Set

The first of the Chinese Historical Figure Set (中国杰出历史人物纪念币) was issued in 1984. It was a set of 4 silver proof coins of 90% fineness each weighing 22g, diameter of 36 mm and a face value of 5 Yuan. A planned mintage of 30,000 sets were minted by Shanghai Mint. According to Mr. Ge Zhu Kang's catalog, the eventual mintage was 14,401.

The obverse of each coin depicts the Chinese national emblem, year of issue and 中华人民共和国.



The reverse of the 4 coins depicts the Terra Cotta Army:

General (将军俑)


Officer (武官俑)


Kneeling Archer (跪射俑)


Horseman (牵马俑)


In the same year a 1/3 oz gold coin of 91.6% fineness, 23 mm in diameter and face value of 100 Yuan was also issued with a planned mintage of 25,000. The gold coin was issued with the same theme depicting the great Emperor of Qin with the Great Wall of China as the background. Mr. Ge recorded that an eventual 10,327 of this coin was issued and was minted by the Shenyang Mint.

Friday, November 6, 2009

October Transacted Prices for Gold Panda

The prices speak for themselves as spot price hit a high on 13 Oct. Notably, the 1982 fell 22% from August price of more than $3,200 to below $2,500. It could be due to the widespread of counterfeit coins that moved buyer away from non-slabbed 1982. The PCGS MS68 had a 'Best Offer' transaction of nearly $4,400 shipped.

1982 - $2,496.14
1983 -
1984 - $1,643.12
1985 - $1,617.27
1986 - $1,692.06
1987P - $1,833.30
1987Y - $1,611.67
1988 - $1,672.50
1990 - $1,683.50
1992 - $1,692.14
1994 - $1,748.34
1996 - $1,691.74
1998 -
2000 - $1,618.60
2001 - $1,614.79
2002 - $1,614.79
2003 - $1,871.07
2005 - $1,554.74
2006 - $1,589.72
2007 -
2008 - $1,655.70
2009 - $1,622.14

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Record Gold Price

3 November: New York closed at US$1,088.50 while silver continues to languish below US$18.
4 November set a new high above US$1,090 fueled by Indian Central Bank's buying of 200 tonnes of gold from IMF at around US$1,045.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

October Transacted Prices for Silver Panda

The spike in precious metal prices last month have lured many sellers to part with their collections. With Gold hitting record high at US$1,066.00 on 13 Oct 09 as Silver struggle to pass US$18, it seems that either buyers are waiting out or sellers are out of stock. 1989 & 1990 are recovering with a 1992 Large Date that was sold extremely cheap. It would be good to grab a few post-2000 now to be released later as they rise.

But once again, Chinese fake coin makers are making collecting Chinese coins a dangerous game. Unscrupulous sellers continue to sell fake coins with real coin photographs and also the fake coins are made with such accuracy that one collector showed me photograph of a fake 2000 Mirror weighing 30.9g. I just didn't get a chance to measure the thickness of the coin. Somewhere has to give in physics.

In the coming months, I should have more time to post a fake 2003 that was so well struck that only the weight could tell the difference. Also, I would be adding some Chinese Fan Shaped Lunar Coins to this blog as well as the first of the Chinese Historical Figure Series of the Terra-cotta Armies. Stay tuned!

1989 55.35
1990L - 1990S 93.89
1991L 122.43 1991S -
1992L 83.89 1992S 120.96
1993L - 1993S -
1994L - 1994S -
1995L - 1995S 86.01
1996L - 1996S -
1997L - 1997S -
1998L - 1998S 90.44
1999LP - 1999S - 1999LS -
2000F 127.68 2000M 334.00
2001 40.82 2001D 49.04
2002 39.60
2003 56.26
2004 38.36
2005 40.27
2006 38.66
2007 39.03
2008 35.49
2009 36.87

Sunday, October 18, 2009

September Transacted Prices for Gold Panda

1982 - $2,511.36
1983 - $1,748.75
1984 - $1,557.30
1985 - $1,573.19
1986 - $1,535.39
1987S - $1,592.94
1990 - $1,667.97
1992 - $1,440.37
1994 - $1,718.02
1998 - $1,827.44
2000 - $1,601.89
2001 - $1,633.88
2002 - $1,707.05
2003 - $1,601.89
2006 - $1,609.42
2007 - $1,587.49
2008 - $1,559.10
2009 - $1,498.27

Friday, October 9, 2009

September Transacted Prices for Silver Panda

General rise is price due to spike on gold prices. Even my supplies have raised prices to levels higher than what I sold my pandas for. But might be a good time to buy those expensive ones sold in US$ now.

1989 48.15
1990L 55.03 1990S 61.83
1991L 111.28 1991S 101.83
1992L 115.59 1992S 106.19
1993L 72.78 1993S 93.82
1994L 71.36 1994S 82.46
1995L 41.80 1995S 50.39
1996L 46.12 1996S 40.90
1997L 46.79 1997S 47.38
1998L 58.51 1998S 58.23
1999LP 72.54 1999S 83.85 1999LS 215.27
2000F 174.47 2000M 364.94
2001 43.09 2001D 48.48
2002 47.10
2003 55.43
2004 47.48
2005 39.25
2006 41.13
2007 41.71
2008 36.98
2009 38.61

Friday, September 11, 2009

August Transacted Prices for Gold Panda

Gold Panda also had general fall in price. However, it still managed to get some key dates like 1995 out in the market. 2008 was transacted below with Lot of 10.

1982 - $3,215.25
1983 - $1,843.91 vs Jun 09
1984 - $1,451.91
1986 - $1,459.31
1988 - $1,463.80
1989 - $2,029.24 (NGC MS69)
1991 - $1,487.77
1992 - $2,028.88
1994 - $1,513.57
1995 - $2,597.31 (NGC MS69)
1996 - $1,908.90 (NGC MS69)
1997 - $1,566.26
1998 - $1,695.36
2000 - $1,429.54
2004 - $1,585.80
2005 - $1,506.08
2008 - $1,187.23
2009 - $1,722.88

Transactions for 1982 is worth a mention. MS67 was transacted higher than AU58 by more than $600 at $3,051.38. Still, the slab is worth buying since it has been authenticated. For 1982, authentication is important as it does not have face value.

On the other hand, 1983 slab was transacted higher than sealed. PCGS MS69 was higher than NGC MS69 by nearly $500.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

August Transacted Prices for Silver Panda

August was a quiet month. Prices were seen dropping all across except for 2004 - 2009. Slabbed coins like 1999 Large Plain Date, 1999 Large Serif Date and 2000 Mirrored are in bold and their prices held up well. One reason was because a seller from China was giving fake offers. And maybe even fake coins. I was giving a second chance offer for a 2000 Frosted double sealed at US$69.69 but when I clicked to buy it, it says item is not available. I don't know what the seller is trying to do but he definitely had a hand in contributing to the fall in price though he's not the main culprit. From next month, I would exclude all transaction by sellers from China.

1989 40.12
1990L 51.45 1990S 54.54
1991L 99.63
1992L 126.98 1992S 82.44
1993L 77.92 1993S 78.99
1994L 59.76 1994S 76.41
1995L 42.53 1995S 35.33
1996L 43.40 1996S 32.84
1997L 50.21 1997S 43.26
1998L 1998S 56.80
1999LP 281.17 1999S 81.91 1999LS 338.85
2000F 117.49 2000M 359.97
2001 37.39 2001D 36.13
2002 38.07
2003 50.32
2004 39.98
2005 36.30
2006 42.99
2007 34.12
2008 34.13
2009 36.20

Sunday, August 9, 2009

July Transacted Prices for Gold Panda

1984 - $1,674.42
1985 - $1,504.63
1986 - $1,489.94 1986P - $1,471.35
1987S - $1,554.14 1987Y - $1,521.38
1987P - $1,514.11
1988 - $1,599.64 (NGC MS69)
1988P - $1,578.96
1989 - $1,671.21 (NGC MS68)
1989 - $2,138.16 (NGC MS69)
1999 - $1,743.24 (NGC MS69)
2002 - $1,934.71 (PCGS MS69)
2003 - $1,476.78
2003 - $1,763.42 (NGC MS69)
2008 - $1,563.61 (PCGS MS69 First Strike)
2009 - $1,641.12
2009 - $2,273.36 (NGC MS70)

Saturday, August 8, 2009

July Transacted Prices for Silver Proof Panda

This month saw 18 transactions for 1 oz Silver Proof Panda so I thought it would be good to put it up. Prices are in Singapore Dollars (Price done in ebay, Price inclusive of shipping)

1983 NGC PF69 Ultra Cameo ($1,364.35, $1,439.96)
1984 NGC PF69 Ultra Cameo ($636.80, $705.09)
1985 PCGS PR66 Deep Cameo ($868.12, $891.35)
1985 Encapsulated with COA and Box ($871, $907.29)
1985 Double Sealed ($1,039.74, $1,061.27)
1989 PCGS PR66 Deep Cameo ($74.03, $93.06)
1989 PCGS PR69 Deep Cameo ($106.86, $161.98)
1989 Double Sealed with Box ($125.88, $248.32)
1991 NGC PF69 Ultra Cameo ($185.89, $211.30)
1993 NGC PF69 Ultra Cameo ($208.32, $233.73)
1994 PCGS PR67 Deep Cameo ($352.98, $374.66)
1994 Encapsulated ($391.16, $398.42)
1995 Encapsulated ($384.98, unknown)
1995 PCGS PR68 Deep Cameo ($510.02, $518.73)
1995 PCGS PR69 Deep Cameo ($623.52, $646.84)
1996 NGC PF69 Ultra Cameo ($293.63, $302.37)
1996 Double Sealed with COA and Box ($258.75, $258.75)
1996 Double Sealed with COA ($290.44, $301.20)

Comments on July Transactions

2009 Silver Panda, as expected, had the highest number of transaction of 111. This is excluding some that were sold in lots and also some dodgy ones. There are a few ebay sellers from China and Hong Kong selling fake 2009 Silver Panda. Some are really well made especially the Temple on the obverse. I could only tell from the more frosty fur of the pandas. However, it is also sellers from China who gives the best deals in terms of shipping.

2007 has a 10th Anniversary Xi'An City Commercial Bank Commemorative coin of mintage 20,000 sold for $790. 2006 has 3 commemorative coins but all of which were sold for less than $100. 2004 and 2005 ICBC Commemorative were sold for more than $200. 2003 had the lowest volume for post 2000 Silver Panda.

There were 3 NGC MS69 2000 'Mirrored' Silver Panda sold for an average price of $380, which is nearly $100 more than the double sealed, whereas the 'Frosted' NGC MS69 is sold for only $10 more than double sealed. Another interesting point to note is that the difference between NGC and PCGS graded MS69 is less than 3%.

Pre 2000 Silver Panda did not have more than 10 transactions for each version. Double sealed were sold up to $20 more for the common years while the difference (more than $70) was greater for 1991-94.

The 1996 Proof version was sold at about the same price of slight above $300 for the double sealed and NGC PF69 Ultra Cameo and it is still hard for me to understand why 1996 having the lowest mintage of the Proof versions is selling at such low price. 1995 Proof version PCGS PR68 and PR69 DCAM were sold for more than $500 and $600 respectively while the ungraded one was sold for nearly $400. The selling price ($375) of 1994 PCGS PR67 DCAM somewhat supports the opinions of certain collectors who believe that a double seal could fetch more than a coin graded less than 69. Transaction for 1993 PCGS MS69 Large Date ($358) compared with NGC PF69 UC ($234) seem to show that BU Silver Panda coins are in greater demand than Proof. Transactions of 1991 and 1992 further reinforce the opinions of better to leave it double sealed than to be graded - (Price;Shipped)

1991 PCGS MS67 Large Date ($88;$107),
1991 Double Sealed Large Date ($126;$151);
1992 PCGS MS68 Small Date ($127;$147),
1992 Double Sealed Small Date ($138;$162).

Saturday, August 1, 2009

July Transacted Prices for Silver Panda

Another month has passed and this month saw a dealer/collector selling nearly 2 full sets of silver panda coins. For July, only the actual price would be posted. I did an averaging of shipping cost for the month, it came to about S$18 - 20. So here goes:

1989 44.55
1990L 53.01
1991L 125.64 1991S 163.45
1992L 139.36 1992S 137.43
1993L 105.97 1993S 96.61
1994L 113.58 1994S 101.57
1995L 61.06 1995S 51.58
1996L 53.68 1996S 37.74
1997L 56.46 1997S 51.13
1998L 81.54 1998S 71.24
1999LP 104.06 1999S 107.76
2000F 146.35 2000M 296.22
2001 38.26 2001D 50.42
2002 39.23
2003 58.54
2004 38.05
2005 36.15
2006 37.78
2007 33.38
2008 32.14
2009 33.26

Red - Price went down;
Green - Price went up.




Friday, July 3, 2009

June Transacted Prices for Gold Panda

The following are 1 oz.t BU Gold Panda transacted price in ebay for June 2009.

Year Price
1982 3,960.26*
1983 1,820.42
1985 1,457.13
1986 1,518.22
1987 1,477.73
1987 1,867.03*
1,477.73
1988 1,554.06*
1989 1,911.69*
1990 1,498.96
1991 3,035.43#
1992 1,788.11*
1995 2,788.30*
1996 2,206.78
1997 1,853.53*
1999 1,621.78
2006 1,562.78
2008 2,360.89*
2009 1,457.35

*NGC or PCGS graded
#Piefort Proof

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Fake - 2000 Silver Panda (Mirror)

Stumbled upon a fake coin selling at ebay today. Seller from China has only 40 ratings though 100% positive. Interestingly, the shipping cost he quoted is only US$9.38.

Anyway here is a picture of the fake:


There are many tell tale signs on the reverse side.
1. The ears
2. The right arm joining the shoulder
3. Left hand claws
4. Space between the legs
5. Missing face value (Most obvious)

And here is the real coin:

Obverse of the fake:

1. Fonts of year of mint are all different
2. The 3 levels of the temple are different
3. The middle stairway has design on it
4. 3 front posts instead of 4 on the real one
5. The front wall joining the front posts is rough
6. The tip of the roof is different

Real coin: