Does this panda look good to you? It is graded by ICG. I am thinking crack it to inspect see if it is genuine.
It's a lovely design, please post an image of the other side. We need to see both sides before making a call.
hey lionfishcoin It looks ok to me. I don't own one, but the mouth looks a lot wider on your image than on Pandacollectors website image. Could be the light, or it could be one of the varieties mentioned in CCF and livebusinesschat. It's graded by ICG a second tier grading service so you would assume it's legitimate. You obviously own it already as you say you're going to crack it open, if you do own it I would not crack it open but send it to NCS/NGC for conserving and grading - particularly as that is one shyte looking slab. Apparently there a a few 2003 varieties, they are fairly inexpensive at the moment, but if there is confirmation of a number of varieties their value could well increase 10x depending on the rarity of the variety. Please post back as you learn more.
I got the same worry about the mouth and that is the reason I want to inspect it. Actually the pictures are provided by the seller. The coin is still on the way and I expect to receive it in the next 7~10 days. Will let you know more once I get the coin.
There are 5 different varieties of 2003 1 oz. silver Pandas identified so far. The mouths and nose are not all the same. These coins are easily worth 3X or more than their melt value as numismatic items. If you crack open the holder there is an excellent chance that you will damage the coin and reduce its value down to the intrinsic silver. DON'T! Best wishes, Peter Anthony http://www.pandacollector.com
Have a look at this link http://www.pandacollector.com/rogue.html has an example of a fake and genuine 2003 Panda.
This is what gives me the shits about Chinese coins and at the same time gives me the jollies - inconsistency of product.
