Wow! I had a wonderful morning today. I had a quick trip to Melbourne and saw a sample of a very pretty Panda collection. It's nice to see some truly rare Pandas in Victoria. I can't say too much, unless the person who I met volunteers the information. But I was amazed at the quality of this persons Panda stack. A range of rare gold and bi-metallic Pandas... ... truly this Pandamonium is just getting started. I hope this person will consider coming to the future SydneyStackers Meet and giving a short show and tell of his luscious Pandas. Thanks again!
Hi Yennus, Sorry for the late reply here, just like to share my 2 cents here on my philosophy on Panda and other Chinese coin collecting. I am not a professional or dealer but a keen collector, obviously all these are personal thoughts, ramblings, not meant to be taken as gospel. To me it doesnt really matter what Panda/chinese coins you collect as they are ALL rare in the scheme of things. I'm in Pandas with a few chinese coins of interest on the side. I began collecting numismatically early on for a number of reasons. 1. I like the idea of being one of only a few to own a particular coin. and 2. These coins are outside spot price fluctuations. Hated seeing it go to $49 then back to $30 or whatever, thats' the GAME. Very rarely will you be selling a Chinese coin for less than what you paid for it. Ask the pandacollector, I would fall over if he said he has, haha. In fact there's a good chance if you keep it for at least 5 years you will be rewarded handsomely for your good decision to purchase it. The same can be said for a bullion coin but in my view the %profit is way better in Pandas. Look at PA's panda graph if you need proof. 3. Have your bullion stack but have numis too, much more pleasure from the numis. The majority of my coins have been bought off ebay, that's right, ebay. You HAVE to go there for the good coins. Many of the early ones were sold to the States and that's were you have to buy them from mainly. Unfortunately alot of US sellers dont ship overseas and have had to let great deals go because of that, shame. O well. Once you have found a good dealer with coins you like and good shipping terms/quickness that's when you're set. Currently I have 3 or 4 that I'm completely comfortable with and would be wary to go outside them, if I do Ill due diligence. Pandas are sold everywhere on ebay I have bought from China, England, Hong Kong, Canada, US, even Poland. One thing to mention I have had nasty bills from the pirates down at customs so be prepared to cough when they ask you to. Ask the seller to label the package accordingly. I have been burned once... on a mirrored 2000 panda (from Germany) the pic was legit, the coin was anything but, a real shocker of a fake. However paypal refunded the money, no real harm done. The lesson I learned here was to be extremely careful, use only a few trusted ebayers... make sure they've sold plenty of pandas and have the necessary good feeedback. My philosophy is to go for coins that have already moved. By that I mean, they are expensive NOW! There are lots of Chinese Govt. issued coins, various sets, show coins etc the list goes on. Picking ones for investment is a lottery. IF I was loaded things would be different and I could be riskier with purchases. As it is I'd rather put the cash toward a proven coin than a rank outsider. Saying that I have bought 'cheaper' older Pandas hoping they'll apprecaite rapid but tend to less now. I target the ones I want, thats' the cool thing about collecting Pandas... there's so many ways to approach it. Which brings me to the next little philosophical conundrum... Do I buy many expensive coins or less, ridiculously expensive coins?! This is where I'm not as comfortable as I am in my above statements and once you start collecting Pandas (and you have moderate means, relatively speaking) you'll come to the same sort of predicament. But it's a nice one to have because so long as you're in the game you're way ahead of the pack. If youve spent $900 on a 95 1oz proof panda NGC69 there's approx 10000 of that year, you have one of the better ones, you're good! If you go bimetal there may be only 3000, you'll pay around $1500, again a very good option. For me, I have an upper limit as to what I'll spend on a coin and I stick to that. my advice would be not to think about how much 'metal' you're getting, you are buying history... thats where the value is. Im all in.
Wow! That was an amazing post 25Grizzlies! Deserving of an Editorial! Amazingly well written! Thanks heaps!
When I started I wanted to collect sets, like the whole 1oz proof Panda series which, although honourable, personally I wouldnt recommend this now. Targeting a few really sweet, rare ones is better. That's only my opinion. You dont get as burned by not having sets I think, with Chinese coins, or any comparable numi coins for that matter. I could be wrong
Hi 25Grizzlies, that seems to be a really good strategy that has worked out very well for you. I remember seeing your Pandas and thinking, "WOW! These are an amazing lot of Pandas!" Even though they weren't organized in collections (not like they are in Shanghai). You have obviously done a lot of research and have done your homework! Top stuff! Tomorrow I hunt for Bi-metallics! <On a different issue> SydneyStackers has extended an invitation for you to speak at the next SydneyStackers Meet! It would fantastic if you could come and share your experiences, and show off your coins. Thanks!
