For those of you who are interested, the seller offers 12 Oz Silver Pandas from 1988 to 1997. All are in original box and COA. http://muenzen.shop.ebay.de/i.html?...zen&_osacat=11116&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313 He also has 5 Oz Pandas: http://muenzen.shop.ebay.de/i.html?...nda&_osacat=11116&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313
I used to own a 12 oz. panda. The design looks amazing on the huge surface area of the coin. In addition, I love the 3-D design of the temple. If you can afford it, I suggest buying either a 5 oz. or 12 oz. panda. It is a great investment. I bought a 12 oz. panda for around $400 in 2009 and sold it for $1,300 this year because I wanted to buy other pandas. Now you can see the prices they are getting from bidders at Ebay Germany. I don't think this is a bubble because the design looks amazing, the coins are well struck, and the mintages are really low considering the huge population of China and the number of Chinese immigrants in other countries.
They stopped minting 12 oz. pandas in 1997. They also stopped minting 5 oz. pandas in 1995 but starting minting them again in 2003 and they are available up to the present.
Interesting - I would like to get my hands on some of these 5oz pandas. Are they bullion issue with the current year being a decent price or proof and very expensive? Edit - eBay tells me they are the latter. Still might get one though.
Thanks Mrslick32, I think you're right once again. Many people forget that there are millions of Chinese outside of China that may also be very keen on the Pandas. Pandas for sure have one of the largest potential base of buyers.
Crazy expensive... but that's just a matter of my ability to pay... I am very sure that these 5oz Pandas will fetch much higher prices in the future. From the last time I inquired, it was about $600 per 5oz 2011 Panda. Very pretty though, and the earlier years fetch a very profitable (and high) premium too. If I were a rich man, I'd probably hit these 5oz coins instead of the 1oz coins... but since I'm trying to get to the rich man status, I'll probably use the 1oz coins as a stepping stone for the moment before reaching for the 5oz coins.
eBay Germany has many 5 oz pandas for sale recently and at very attractive prices as sellers unload these big coins like crazy, have no idea why.
I second what Yennus just said. These are very expensive due to the high demand for these coins. However, they are very beautiful and I consider them an excellent investment since there is a huge demand for these coins. Those coins are all proof version while the 1 oz. coins are mostly BU (although they still look like proofs). There are 1 oz. versions of the proof coins though and the proof versions have different designs from the 1 oz. BU coins for the years 1993 to 1999, which makes them even more interesting to collect. The proof versions from 1997 to 1999 are colored although I personally prefer the uncolored proof versions.
Some expensive sales there but the 87 down the bottom of the list went for 505 Euro, a real bargain in my humble opinion.
Yeah if I was to get one of the 3-d 5 oz'ers it would be the 87 being the first of the series and also the most affordable.
The 1987 5 oz. is the most affordable because it also has the highest mintage. If I'm not mistaken, the planned mintage for this coin was 31,000. I use the term "planned" because the original mintage is not always a good indicator for surviving population for older (90's and prior) pandas because the pandas have been melted for their precious metal content when they could not be sold during that time. This is also the reason why I think the 1992 5 oz. panda was purchased for a bargain price. Although it has the same planned mintage as the 1991 5 oz. panda (4,000 coins), the 1992 5 oz. panda is much more difficult to find based on my own experience. One proxy I use to estimate the surviving population is the population of NGC graded coins. Here are some population figures for the 5 oz. silver pandas: 1987 - 216 1988 - 69 1989 - 39 1990 - 21 1991 - 50 1992 - 13 1993 - 14 1994 - 14 1995 - 21 I want to make it clear though that the NGC population is not a precise measure for surviving population. It is just one factor to consider but it gives one an idea about the relative scarcity of surviving coins that are in a good enough condition to be submitted by the owner for grading.
The potential base of buyers outside China do not comprise of only Chinese who live outside China. There are also a lot of people who may be attracted to the coins because pandas are interesting by nature and well-loved by many people. I see this with the large number of panda-related products (not coins) sold in the US. Some examples are panda stuffed toys and pillows.
So true Mrslick32, the demand for Pandas is not just from domestic demand in China. It is from international demand as well.
The first coin in Perth Mint's Wildlife in Need series is the Giant Panda. Clearly they are attempting to hitch a free ride on the Pandas' popularity. And let's not mention why an Australian mint has the Chinese-oriented Lunar series as one of its main lines. If demand was coming from the typical Aussie joe six-pack who supposedly earns more than the average Chinese then we'd be getting a series on Rugby League teams or Beers of the World instead.
I agree with you that majority of the demand for pandas comes from people in China or immigrants from China who now live in other countries. What I was trying to point out though is that the demand does not only come from these people but also from other people who are interested in collecting the panda coins for different reasons. I also agree with you that Perth Mint almost got me to buy the Wildlife in Need panda coin. I like the design but there are so many different coins I like so I have to prioritize.
I agree with you totally mrslick32. Definitely the demand that is coming from overseas is not just from the Chinese. What I was trying to say is this: Pandas are emblematic of China and the associations between the two are strong. In other words if someone wants a Chinese coin then its natural to gravitate to the Panda or the Lunar series. On the other hand Aussie-themed coins are not very high in demand and the Perth Mint is just riding on the coat-tails of the popularity of Chinese-themed coins with their Lunar series and the Giant Panda in the Wildlife in Need series.
