Premiums of Key Date Silver Panda Coins - 1995, 1999 & 2000

I've identified 3 key years of the Silver Panda for analysis. 1995 Small Twig Micro, 1999 Serif, 2000 Frosty and 2000 Mirror. New collectors or collectors looking for good deals without overpaying would compare how much premium they are paying for a double-sealed coin over a coin in capsule, a graded MS69 over a coin in capsule, a graded MS69 over a double-sealed etc. There are some collectors who would also place a percentage premium based on whether it is MS69, 68 or 67.

With price data from US ebay transacted prices collected from Dec 2010 to Nov 2011, I could present some figures indicated how these coins could compare and how much premium has been paid. The most readily available data is actually that of the 2000 Frosty as it is the most heavily transacted amongst the key dates.

2000 Frosty

The average price transacted for a 2000 Frosty in capsule range between US$175 to US$340 while a double-sealed was between US$202 to US$391. Percentage premium of double-sealed over capsule is between 15.5% to 39.5%

% premium of MS69 / Capsule: 53 - 118%

% premium of MS68 / Capsule: 21 - 64%

% premium of MS67 / Capsule: -18 - 36%

% premium of MS66 / Capsule: -12 - 17%

% premium of MS69 / DS*: 10 - 66%

% premium of MS68 / DS*: -13 - 19%

% premium of MS67 / DS*: -41 - 5%

2000 Mirror

For 2000 Mirror, there are only 2 sets of data to look at for same month of transaction. That is to say, only in the month of May and October, we have data to compare for premium of NGC MS69 & MS68 over double-sealed coins.

% premium of MS69 / DS*: 176 - 191%

% premium of MS68 / DS*: 88 - 129%

1999 Serif

% premium of MS69 / DS*: 60 - 363%

% premium of MS68 / DS*: 5 - 193%

% premium of MS67 / DS*: 41%

1995 Small Twig Micro

% premium of MS69 / DS*: 75 - 153%

*DS denotes Double-Sealed

In conclusion, a graded coin has different percentage premium for different year due to it's mintage, NGC graded population for that grade and even silver spot price. The relation is not as linear as MS69 indicates 100%, MS68 - 50% and so on. For example, the 1992 Large Date would have much more graded MS69 and above compared to the 1992 Small Date due to its eye appeal and hence collectors are willing to pay 30 - 40% more for the Small Date MS69. A 2011 MS70 Early Release could fetch a 100% premium  over capsuled one while the MS69 would be priced nearly the same as the capsuled.

Silver spot price could affect the premium in the sense that when silver spot is high, collectors would settle for something lower grade like MS67 or capsule coin.

2000 Chinese Silver Panda

2000 Chinese Silver Panda Obverse (Frosted Ring Version)

2000 Chinese Silver Panda Obverse (Mirrored Ring Version)

2000 Chinese Silver Panda Reverse

The 2000 Chinese Silver Panda was issued with the following denominations:

1 oz.t 40mm 10 Yuan BU Unknown Mintage

1 kg 100mm 300 Yuan Proof 2,000

Total NGC graded Frosty: 1,255

MS70 (19); MS69 (989); MS68 (152); MS67 (62); MS66 (16); MS65 (14); MS64 (2); MS63 (0); MS62 (1)

Total NGC graded Mirrored: 241

MS70 (0); MS69 (188); MS68 (48); MS67 (5)

The turn of the millennium is a turn of good fortune for coin dealers and collectors who boarded the cart early. Looking back in Year 2000, silver spot price never went above US$5.50. What could have been issued at silver bullion price by the mints have been greatly inflated within the decade by collectors or perhaps, the dealers themselves. This version of the Silver Panda coin also attracted the most number of counterfeits.

For Year 2000, there are 2 versions of the Silver Panda. The coin can be distinguished by the obverse of the coin. The ring of the coin as the name suggested was either Frosted or Mirrored, with the Mirrored - the domestic version. Prices have shown that the Mirrored version is the more sought after between the two and most sought of the series.

Average Transacted Price in ebay (Jun - Dec 2009) (Shipped):

1 oz.t - S$157.80 (Frosted)

1 oz.t - S$360.17 (Mirrored)

1 kg - S$3,473.99 (COA & Box)

NGC MS69 Frosted - S$179.02

PCGS MS69 Frosted - S$193.92

NGC MS69 Mirrored - S$369.19

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: