Chinese Gold Panda Bullion Coins - One Troy Ounce

Panda Fact File

Brief history of, and information about, Chinese gold pandas.







One Ounce of Gold

Many
countries now issue a one ounce bullion coin, to be sold at a very low
premium over the intrinsic gold value. The Chinese version is the Panda.

Unlike
krugerrands, Britannias, and US gold eagles, the Chinese pandas are
made of "fine" gold (99.9% pure) instead of 22 carat (91.66%). This
appears to have added to their popularity,

In addition to the usual one troy ounce size, there are four fractional weights going down to 1/20th of an ounce.



Krugerrands versus Pandas

Because krugerrands were the first one ounce gold bullion coins to be issued, it is worth geparing gold pandas with krugers.

Krugerrands
were first issued in 1967, as one ounce bullion coins. From 1980, they
were also produced in fractional sizes of half ounce, quarter ounce,
and tenth ounce. Pandas were introduced in 1982. The premium charged on
pandas by the Chinese mint is higher than that charged for krugerrands
or most other gold bullion coins. Although this may make them slightly
less attractive to investors interested purely in their gold content,
it does not appear to have deterred collectors.

Gold pandas were
extremely successful when they were first introduced, we have heard
reports of the 1982 coins selling at over $3,000 US or over 2,000;
this panda mania continued for several years, peaking about 1987, since
then issue quantities have dropped and many dates are not easy to find.



The Panda Family

Almost
every year the reverse design of the panda is changed, which makes the
panda series more interesting to collectors. Pandas are regularly
produced in five sizes from one ounce to a twentieth ounce, although in
some years much larger sizes have been issued, sometimes in very
limited quantities.



Pandas - New Designs

The obverse design shows the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

The reverse designs of Chinese gold pandas are changed almost every year as mentioned above.







Low Premium Over Gold Content

As
with most one ounce gold bullion coins, they are made available to
world bullion dealers at a relatively low premium over gold content,
even though this is higher for pandas than for most other bullion coin
issues.







Higher Premium on Smaller Sizes

The
fractional sizes were issued at higher premiums than the one ounce
versions. The fractional coins have never been as popular as the full
one ounce coins, usually only being purchased as singles, although they
are often used in jewellery.



VAT Free From January 2000

In Britain investment gold coins, including Chinese gold pandas became VAT free from January 1st 2000.



Continuous Service from Chard

Chard have maintained a dealing service for both collectors and investors in bullion and numismatic coins since 1964.



Technical Specifications

The following table summarises the specifications of all the sizes.

Sorry, but okay do not allow html code, so this table is not as neatly formatted as it is on our website.

Size

Value
Diameter Weight
Fineness Gold Content Gold
Content

One Ounce 100 Yuan
32.103 31.1036
.999
31.103
1.0000

Half
50 Yuan
27.00 15.5517
.999 15.55

0.5000

Quarter
25 Yuan 21.95
7.7758
.999
7.77
0.2500

Tenth
10 Yuan 17.95
3.1103
.999
3.110
0.1000

Twentieth 5
Yuan 13.92
1.5552
.999
1.55
0.0500

geplete Set 190 Yuan
N/A 59.1548
.999 59.083
1.9000




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