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August 2011 ANA World's Fair of Money - Chicago
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Book Signing at the ANA National Money Show
Here are some photos from ANA National Money Show in Sacramento (March 15-17). While the weather was wet and cold outside there was plenty of heat generated on the convention floor. The public showed up in a big way on Saturday, March 17.
Victory Bullion and its owner Raul Seymour graciously hosted a book signing of The Gold and Silver Panda Coin Buyer's Guide. My thanks to him and his associates Ken, Nicole and Chris for all their help.
Victory Bullion's Raul Seymour on the left + yours truly.
One of Victory Bullion's showcases.
A very unusual 2000 gold Panda belonging to Mish International.
Victory Bullion showcase
The staff at Victory Bullion: Ken, Raul, Chris and Nicole
Sacramento Convention Center on a rainy day
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New Silver Panda for China's Financial Markets
In October of 1990 China opened its first modern futures exchange in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province in Central China. The exchange was the first futures exchange to operate in China since the 1930s. By 1993 contracts in wheat, corn, soybean, green beans and sesame were being traded.
A new 1 oz. silver Panda issued by the People's Bank of China will mark the Exchange's 20th anniversary. The new Panda carries the words, "20th Anniversary of the Opening of China's Capital Market" in both Chinese and English on it.
The obverse shows the date and legend in Chinese below an image of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The announced maximum mintage is 40,000 1 troy oz. 40mm diameter .999 fine silver coins. China Gold Coin Incorporation is the sole distributor. (PA)
2010 Panda Coins Mark World's Largest IPO
A new pair of Gold and silver Panda coins have been issued by the People's Bank of China. The coins celebrate the simultaneous listing of the Agricultural Bank of China Co. on the Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges in early July. The Initial Public Offering (IPO) raised a world record $19.2 billion.
The two coins are a 10 Yuan 1 oz. silver and a 100 Yuan 1/4 oz. goild coin. Each coin has the legend, "In Commemoration of the Listing of the Agricultural Bank of China Co., Ltd." in both English and Chinese on it. Mintages are 70,000 silver coins and 60,000 gold coins. China Gold Coin Incorporation is the sole distributor. (PA)
2010 MS-70 Pandas: Too much of a Good Thing?
The grade MS-70 is reserved for coins that are flawless, without any imperfection. In past years very few Chinese Panda coins have achieved this exalted grade. Lately, though, a lot of MS-70 2010 silver Pandas have come onto the market. Are these as desirable as the earlier years?
In the past MS-70 silver B.U. Pandas have often been good investments due to their rarity. For instance a 1989 1 oz. B.U. silver Panda graded MS-70 by NGC sold for $1,050 in January of 2010. Why? In this condition NGC has graded just 4 while PCGS has graded just one.
More recent years aren’t quite as rare but are still far from common. Populations of NGC MS-70s for dates struck after 2002 number in the hundreds. PCGS reports even lower quantities—just 23 in 2007 and 196 in 2009. All in all, these coins are attractive to collectors and sell for $100 and up.
Now we come to 2010. The first MS-70s appeared for sale in March and brought around $150 and up per coin. Since then there has been a steady stream of MS-70s on the market (particularly PCGS graded coins) and their auction price has declined to $70-$90. That seems pretty cheap for a MS-70, but is it? A glance at the latest PCGS population report suggests it may not be—there are 12,904 MS-70 2010s graded already! That is 60 times as many as in 2009 and more than 500 times as many MS-70s as in 2007. Wow!
With such a large pool of coins to draw on it could be years before the market absorbs them all. With such a large pool of coins to draw on it could easily be years before the market absorbs them all. I wouldn’t be surprised if before all is said and done the price of a 2010 MS-70 silver Panda comes down quite a bit still from where it is today. Only two mitigating factors come to mind: the price of silver skyrockets so the coin’s bullion value comes into play. In that case a buyer would be far better served by getting 2 or 3 common date Pandas for the same price today. The other possibility is that one of the two varieties of 2010 silver Pandas turns out to be scarce and MS-70s of this variety become sought-after coins; not exactly a sure thing.
So, if you want a perfect MS-70 2010 Panda for your collection right now, go ahead. The price isn’t too high and they are beautiful coins. However, anyone who wants a coin that is likely to appreciate in value might consider choosing from among the many reasonably priced older Pandas.
2007 Revised Panda Mintage Numbers
In early 2007 the Chinese Mint updated its mintage figures for Panda coins. Here are the old and new figures:
Year |
1 oz. Original Published Mintage |
1 oz. Revised (2007) Mintage |
1/2 oz. Original Published Mintage |
1/2 oz. Revised (2007) Mintage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1982 |
15,815 | 13,532 | 13,300 | 13,391 |
1983 |
22,470 | 25,363 | 23,200 | 28,596 |
1984 |
23,330 | 25,183 | 16,900 | 20,057 |
1985 |
164,190 | 55,539 | 76,000 | 62,675 |
1986 |
127,000 | 107,132 | 60,290 | 48,618 |
1987 |
131,579 | 156,178 | 94,789 | 97,076 |
| 1988 | 167,193 | 289,055 | 103,557 | 220,443 |
| 1989 | 74,000 | 115,187 | 49,000 | 120,588 |
1990 |
45,561 | 53,898 | 35,066 | 35,091 |
1991 |
100,000 | 36,367 | NA | 32,717 |
1992 |
48,988 | 41,120 | NA | 26,495 |
1993 |
35,000 | 40,449 | NA | 31,254 |
1994 |
35,000 | 24,438 | NA | 16,788 |
1995 |
35,000 | 17,412 | 17,000 | 11,749 |
1996 |
35,000 | 22,009 | NA | 13,849 |
1997 |
125,000 | 30,457 | NA | 15,483 |
1998 |
125,000 | 20,507 | NA | 4,168 |
1999 |
125,000 | 32,439 | NA | 12,482 |
2000 |
NA | 29,011 | NA | 20,811 |
2001 |
150,000 | 41,411 | 100,000 | 33,215 |
2002 |
120,000 | 28,345 | 75,000 | 28,514 |
2003 |
120,000 | 36,300 | 75,000 | 25,000 |
2004 |
120,000 | 55,000 | 75,000 | 42,000 |
| 2005 | 150,000 | 50,300 | 60,000 |
35,410 |