New 2013 Panda Under Weight !!

Discussion in 'Modern Chinese Coins & Medallions' started by Photonaware, Feb 10, 2013.

  1. Photonaware

    Photonaware Active Member

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    Just thought I would weigh a few new Pandas and was surprised to find after sampling 10 brand new coins that 50% were underweight.
    My scales are precise.
    Weighing new ASEs and new Britannias typically see up to 1.008 Toz
    Some Pandas were about 1.002 Toz but half were below the magic number 1.000 Toz
    If there is a tolerance on weight then the Chinese seem to prefer the lower margin rather than the upper.

    [​IMG]

    :(
     
  2. gcsun

    gcsun New Member Silver Stacker

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    Great question, anyone in the know on this?
     
  3. 25Grizzlies

    25Grizzlies Member

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    Interesting, you say half were under 1 troy ounce? More investigation is needed, anyone with a sample of 2013s should get their scales out.
     
  4. fishball

    fishball New Member Silver Stacker

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    Perhaps you got the unlucky batch :p
     
  5. Austacker

    Austacker Active Member

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    Just double check your scales. Get a guaranteed weight to calibrate. It doesn't matter what the others coins say, if it is out, it is out. To me your scales are out, as the others would not be so close to exact, so I would say your scales are weighing light.

    I am certainly keen to hear further from others, not that I have any 2013. I do have a heap of 2012's though any one weighed one of these ?
     
  6. goldpelican

    goldpelican Administrator Staff Member

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    Are you hitting the tare button between each weighing?

    It's not impossible - after all, proof Krugerrands were recently found to have been adulterated with a lower than advertised gold content.
     
  7. yennus

    yennus Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    I would suggest trying what GP said, and possibly a more accurate set of scales.

    The scales you have are likely only precise at its best to +/- 1%, since the graduation is 0.01. Possibly your manual will say something along the lines of "this scale is accurate within 1-2%".

    Here's a list of things that can go wrong: Sources of error
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighing_scale

    E.g.
    Error in mass of reference weight
    Air gusts, even small ones, which push the scale up or down
    Forces from electrostatic fields, for example, from feet shuffled on carpets on a dry day

    The difference you're looking at is 0.4% (0.004) of an ounce of silver , around 1/10th of a gram (0.1244g). Gravity varies by over 0.5% over the surface of the earth.

    I would consider 0.4% statistically insignificant, or within the range of error.
     
  8. 25Grizzlies

    25Grizzlies Member

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    Poor underfed Pandas :(
     
  9. dross

    dross Active Member

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    Maybe a couple of our resident dealers could weigh a few from their stock as a double check.
     
  10. alor

    alor Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    a drunk shearer took it for a sheep in the zoo. :lol:
     
  11. Photonaware

    Photonaware Active Member

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    My scales are definitely good - just weighed a new batch of Maples, Eagles and Philharmonicas - all coming in over 1 Toz so the Pandas are definitely short of silver.
     
  12. scone

    scone Active Member Silver Stacker

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    couldn't imagine anything from china being less than perfect (sarcasm icon)
     
  13. DanielM

    DanielM Active Member Silver Stacker

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    Just because the ASEs and Maples, ect. Weigh over an ounce doesn't mean your scales are accurate.

    If an ASE is 1.05 toz and a panda is 1.01 toz and your scale is out 0.03 toz the the ASE will still be over at 1.02toz and the panda under at 0.98
     
  14. yennus

    yennus Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    As said previously: The scales you have are likely only precise at its best to +/- 1%, since the graduation is 0.01

    Your scales accepted variance (+/- 1%) is more than 2x greater than the 0.4% difference detected.

    Therefore the difference detected (0.4%) is statistically insignificant, and within the range of error.
     
  15. Photonaware

    Photonaware Active Member

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    The precision is 0.01 grams so I accept 0.996 Toz would JUST be in the tolerance of 0.03% but there is also a 50% probability that my scales are reading high. Just wanted to share my experience having weighed lots of 1oz coins this Panda was the first to be read
    below 1.000.
     
  16. ktaw

    ktaw New Member

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    I just brought a few hundred from my local supplier I checked and weight it most of it weight around 30.89 to 30.99 gram . I have check my early purchase the weight is around 31.1 to 31.3 gram.
     
  17. goldpelican

    goldpelican Administrator Staff Member

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    That's low - only 0.993oz. Sounds insignificant, but being "correct weight" should be sacrosanct for a legal tender bullion coin.

    Would be good see proof of this thought on calibrated, accurate scales.
     
  18. Photonaware

    Photonaware Active Member

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    Q.E.D.
     
  19. S. Ohno

    S. Ohno Member

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    Bought this one last December ...
    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmszMZX_cHs[/youtube]
     
  20. barsenault

    barsenault Well-Known Member

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    Yikes. Funny I have tubes of all kinds, where all the coins are in capsules, and in tubes, and quite frankly the weight difference is quite noticeable!!
     

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