Tips In Buying Chinese Gold Coins

By Helene Norris


Economic powers and countries usually do something extraordinary to further showcase their strength and prestige. Either they make huge monuments in praise of their heroes or national achievements or they mint gold bullion or coins as commemorative pieces and as backup to their own national treasuries. This is the case for the so called Chinese gold coins or panda mint editions that are currently becoming popular.

The first globally available coins for investment and collection came in the form of a one ounce Krugerrand introduced in 1967. Though not the first of its kind, the Krugerrand was the first of its kind to be minted in one ounce sizes. However, this coin later on became minted in smaller sizes of one half down and one tenth ounce gold contents. The panda coin is also a coin that comes in the one ounce content category.

The distinction of the panda coin or Chinese gold coin of China is that it is also minted in one ounce sizes. However, unlike the Krugerrand they are minted in families. This basically means that you can get an entire design or set of coins with the same design but with differing weights, being one ounce, half ounce, quarter ounce, tenth ounce and twentieth ounce. The ability of a collector or investor to buy an entire set of different weights makes the coin popular.

The panda coin, despite its achieved distinction next to the Krugerrand does not outdo the Krugerrand in beauty. Most think that the Krugerrand is already not so attractive compared to other coinage in the world, and these same people would also probably find the panda coin pretty much boring in terms of design. The front or obverse side contains an etching of the Temple of Heaven and other side has the distinct panda design which gives the coin its name. Each year China mints a coin with changes to the reverse but not the obverse side, thus giving the collectible characteristic to the coin.

Most buyers would buy the larger ones, that is the half ounce sizes and one ounce sizes. Most that buy the lower sizes of coin have a different use for the smaller ones. These smaller ones become part of jewelry pieces whether as bracelet charms, necklaces or pendants.

These coins also have a relatively low premium over gold content, meaning that they are priced only slightly higher than their content of the yellow mineral. However, most collectors would say that this is higher when compared to others. Whatever the case, one can be sure however that many opinions will exist in terms of certain types of investments.

Should one be interested, there are many sites on the internet that do offer these for sale and selling practices do differ. Some will sell by pure gold content with no regard to what date will appear on the items you buy. Others will sell you by specific date that you want. The latter practice is mostly for collectors who want the rare date mints or the ones in demand, as seen in the 1982 series ones that fetched up to 3000 dollars per unit at any one time.

It is important to note that you should do a lot of background work and research first before buying and collecting Chinese gold coins. Train yourself to look for certain physical aspects of the coins you have an interest in such as serration amount, other distinctive marks and features and the like. It would also do you a lot of good if you also do further background checks and reference traces on prospective dealers and sellers.




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