Yes indeed, here are a few folks. Prices vary. I'm glad these guys stink at taking pictures. Lol. Hold this sucker in your hand, and you will go, really? Only 66.00 for 2.57 troy ounces of beauty, and only 12,000 minted. Just my humble opinion. Horse: https://www.ebay.com/itm/262948389892 https://www.ebay.com/itm/322494365949 Goat: https://www.ebay.com/itm/222487896804
Hello there. I definitely understand and agree. The main reason I bought a few is simply due to the art work, relief, and low price. It is a high mintage piece for a Chinese medal, but that's only because we're spoiled with all these micro mintages, but the cost is some times 3 and 4 X's higher. I buy the micro mintage stuff, for sure. This is more of a roll of the dice on the semi-numi play like a kook or PM lunar or a bullion panda silver coin. At $25.68 per troy ounce (80 grams), I'll roll the dice. Lol. Isn't it all a roll of the dice at the end of the day? ) Who would have thunk that the PM swans would have sold out in 2 days and climbed from 25 per ounce to 50 in like a week? But I definitely agree, it's in the back of my mind too. I think the negative this has against it is, the Chinese suck at marketing. They don't have a marketing prowess like the PM, and many well known firms marketing and selling their product like APMEX, MCM, Provident Metals, etc...unless of course they are sponsoring their own pieces. Anyway, my 2 cents. Let's see how it plays out.
If they are not individually hand carved I would assume the "Hand carved" referred to the style rather than the die. I.e. the design is that of a hand carved wooden horse. I would be interested in seeing a Dragon when it comes out.
Good discussion. I know the topic of what 'hand carved' means was brought up in the past. I too am trying to find out more details about it. BB, I'm not so sure I agree with you about the goat not looking like the horse. The horse may look nicer, but the goat certainly has a similar artistic theme as the horse. The monkey and rooster certainly have the same look as well. So from what I can tell, the pieces in the series look somewhat similar, but have their own flair and character. However, when it comes to price, who knows the future, right? My humble opinion? Not that you or anyone else cares, but I'll stated it anyway. If these were marketed by the Perth Mint, and were sold through APMEX as the 'exclusive sponsor' in the U.S., as series, me thinks they would have sold out in about 1 day at $66.00 ($25.68 per troy ounce). Of course no way to tell, but that's my guess. The Chinese make some of the most beautiful artistic pieces in the world. But boy do they suck at marketing. Lol. And another thing that drives me a little batty with them is, you never know their true mintages (for the most part) vs. the declared mintage by the Perth Mint. For example, the horse has a planned mintage of 12,000, but I was told by a reliable source only 4k were mintage. BUT, who knows how accurate his info is. It could be hearsay. I don't know. At the end of the day, I used the Swan as example, because it was the thing that I recently had and sold for double what I bought them for. I believe the introductory price for 1 piece was close to 25.00 ($). And now those things are to the moon. The mintage is 25k, a bit higher than the horse. And I'm sure 25k will be a historic marker for the swan series. I'd be shocked if the PM doesn't increase the mintage to 75,000 - 100,000 on the 2nd issue. If it's only 50,000, I'll load up again, and try for another moon shot. Lol. Anyway, was just trying to give an idea of the hand carved horse vs a piece that was recently minted. Granted one is a govt issued legal tender coin and the other is a non fiat coin (medal). And for some, that is a huge difference. For me, not so much. It's a little tiresome looking at the chubby face of the queen all the time - hence why I sold all my swans, and I hope those who bought from me see their coins go from 50.00 to 100.00. Nothing would make me happier. I did well, and I hope they do too!! No regrets from me. Hopefully these horses appreciate in value too. But at the end of the day, this buy for me was nothing more than adding a coin to my stack. At 25.00 for a beautiful piece of art, it was a no brainer. I realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and my eyes say, there really is no comparison in art between this and the swan. The horse is hands down a better looking piece. ). I'd rather have those apart of my stack than the Perth Mint swans.
Yeah, that's the nature of the beast with these things, they do have creative license, and don't have to follow 'conformity' with the chubby queen face on everything. Lol. I for one like the creative designs, as long as the animal has the same theme, I'm good. ). I guess that's why the Perth stuff is popular, they love that chubby queen on everything. )
Here is the goat and monkey. And I did a side by side comparison between the three that I have: horse, goat and monkey. I'm waiting on the snake and rooster. I consider these a semi-numi bullion medal/coin, since they are priced (silver) at about $25.68 per troy ounce.
You can buy the horse and the goat silver version here. http://www.luckpawnshop.com/shenyan...-horse-80g-silver-china-coin-medal-p-814.html http://www.luckpawnshop.com/shenyan...p-handcarved-80g-silver-china-coin-p-618.html
Hello BB. Yes indeed. Keep in mind these were supposed to be for the online exchange in china. Some sort of an investment vehicle. But for whatever reason these coins didn't make the cut. I don't know how the exchange works. I believe Andy does. I do know they need 'massive' quantities for the exchange. Massive for them is 12k and up. Lol. They only mint a fraction of the. 12,000 and 60,000, making them available for the general public. It's funny I ran an idea by one of the dealers in China. I said, why don't you produce a semi-numi medal, with a low price over spot ($3-$5), but make the quality and relief spectacular (like the hand carved pieces), and let it be a series (i.e.a Great Wall/Panda theme as an example), and let it be higher mintage (10 - 20k). His response? 'That's too hard.' Lol. They love these low mintage, high dollar pieces, because they sell 200 - 500 of them, and it's done. Lol. I think they're frightened by having to mint and sell that many. And because the marketing/channel arm isn't there, they'd probably end up losing money, not moving a lot of semi-numi china medals. Anyway, I'm hopefully one day, the chinese will figure out a way to capitalize on this semi-numi play with their beautiful artistic pieces as the perth has done with their kook, lunar and now swan series. Where they are recognized and desiered around the world. Yes. The horse is 12,000 planned, but actual? I was told around 3-4k. Yes. The goat 60,000 planned, but actual? I was told 8-9k No silver for snake (unlikely since it was minted in 2013 - the brass is available), the monkey or rooster/chicken yet. They have the brass/copper. But nothing for silver just yet. I hope you are well my friend.
My pleasure BB. I just wish there was more clarity around this series. These guys just produce stuff, and hope the rhyme and reason comes together eventually. They need a little 'kick in the a**' to help get them better organized. If it weren't 25.68 a troy ounce, I wouldn't have rolled the dice on them. But I'm playing the semi/spot with these, hoping that I can get a little premium when I go to sell against everything else out there 15 years or so down the road. Now if he still has these at 25.68 when spot eventually gets to 21/22, I'll back up the truck and buy a 'ton.' ). They are simply beautiful pieces to hold in hand.
Personally, I'd rather pay more money for a really well made coin, medal, or round with a low mintage than less money for an average quality coin, medal, or round with a high mintage. But that's just my opinion.
yup, 20 years down the road you don't remember your meal at the cafeteria, but you do remember your meal at the Michelin restaurant. I don't have time to flip, so I will not invest in something tagged #cheap but rather something I believe will stand out from the masses looking back. There were many medals issued in older days too, but not many we care to talk about. Everyone take their best bets on the future.
