Our Daily Bread a.k.a. MCC Fix (Random Thoughts, Updates, Advice, Etc)

Our Daily Bread a.k.a. MCC Fix (Random Thoughts, Updates, Opinions, Critique, Info & Rants!)

I am starting this thread for general purpose discussions on anything/everything MCC. We still have other threads for specific issues and items. I envision this thread as somewhere you can dial into first thing in the morning to catch anything new that happened while you were snoozing. It's also where you check in from time to time during the day to see if anything new has cropped up.

This is where you can post whatever is in your mind, thoughts, lessons you want to share with everyone, hints on how to negotiate the MCC arena and minefields too. If you hear anything you think we should know post it here. You can also comment on what you read elsewhere on the internet, news, TV, other MCC forums and Chinese market conditions.

You can tell us why you like a particular piece of metal and if we should join you in ownership of similar pieces. You can be light hearted too! Tell your MCC jokes. This is really going to be a potpourri of MCC related stuff. Feel free to contribute anything; things that can brighten up the day for all of us and guests who check in from time to time for inspiration, advice and support.

I can't claim any expertise at anything so jump in if you have a response to something posted here. It is for all of us. This is not going to be a one-man-show!

So let's see how it goes!

Thanks for support!

 

So where are we with the 2014 Baby Panda 30g medals' availability? At a time it appeared that they were all sold out at the primary distributor's site. Now the silver 30g medal is steadily and currently available whereas the Copper medal reappeared briefly (eBay#s: 321762823630 and 321762770049). How long do such low mintage (200) coins usually take to sell out? My preliminary impression is that coin values don't stabilize until they are sold out at the mint or primary (major) distributor's site!

 

I'm a novice when it comes to MCC so I can't answer KOT's question regarding value stabilization...but I can take a guess. So, my guess is that the values fluctuate and there may be no definitive pattern for all MCC's. For example, a sudden surge of interest in a medal 2 or 3 years after an MCC was first made available by dealers could result in noticeable price increases that may have long term value effect. Or what about well made known fakes of a particular recent sought after medal appearing...this could have the opposite (a chilling) affect on the prices of the real medal due to fears that people have toward potentially paying good money for a fake. But I know that example is an exception and so under normal conditions I still think it could vary greatly.



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A burning question I have raised in at least 1 other thread but I have not gotten a definitive answer is, are high relief Chinese medals pressed or cast? If it varies, is there any way to know how to generally tell if a medal is pressed or cast?

I suppose I could send medal expert Frank Wang an inquiry but I haven't gotten around to doing that yet.

Anyone here knows the answer?


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Given the multiple modalities we have already seen with Chinese numismatic products the answer probably varies depending on the specific medal in question. For example, all the medals in the Classical Garden Series seem to have been pressed/stamped. Even the Mammoth medal is reported to have been stamped (?25-30 times). This information is ideally obtained from mint information sources. However, I am sure mint/medal experts may be able to tell but they could be confounded where hybrid techniques are used. But I probably know less than you!

 

Great idea for the topic, but dunno why you have posted the same comment in few post? If it's interested people will notice it, if not then not.

 

Sorry! Hopefully with time I'll learn of more efficient ways to notify forum members of such initiatives.

 

Oh this is for rants?

WHY CAN'T I FIND A 100 OZ SILVER BAR FOR $1000?

/RANT

 

Well if you do find some, let me know!



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This is a real short rant! Try something longer, ?4 paragraphs, real cathartic! You won't regret it! I've been there and back!

 

100oz X $17 = $1700 = ?a good deal.
100oz X $y = $1000

Where $y = run for your dear life! Definitely the law enforcement chaps will be interested in this deal!

Just continue with the rant; much safer!

Does this sound humorous guys? Tell me the truth!

 

It's no big deal, just that I don't see this "necessary".

Anyway, I'm only sorry I didn't start to be interested in Chinese MCC before. I think the first one that really caught my eye was Wutai medal (the one with sword?). Well I almost stopped being interested in PM at some point of time.

 

I also came a bit late to the game but have made massive strides in learning a lot about MCC since then. A lot of common sense and restraint helps. Many MCC collectors share their knowledge unselfishly here and at other forums. Quite exciting times!

 

That Wutai medal design is one of the best in my view. It's difficult for me to imagine someone seeing it and thinking it is not aesthetically appealing.



My real awakening to Chinese medals came when I saw the Snake Dance brass medal and I was blown away at the awesome design. This was in like the Spring of 2013. I immediately purchased a brass Snake Dance medals as soon as I could find a dealer who had one remaining...not easy to find these medals.

So I have the stunning design of the Snake Dance brass medal to thank for my sincere Chinese medal passion. Can you blame me?













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That is an awesome design. I have seen it at various times on the web. I find anything snake scary but I still look long enough to appreciate the beautiful design! The multiplicity of original unfetterred MCC designs is what makes Chinese coins and medals so exciting to collect. Digs a big hole in your pocket! But I am not complaining.

 

Wouldn't mind having that coin in gold. Looks super cool.

 

It's a large medal...120mm in diameter. Of the brass, copper, and silver version, the silver is obviously the heaviest since it is a denser metal than copper or brass. The silver version weighs around 1.3 kilos. If a gold version of the Snake Dance medal existed, it would weigh somewhere around 2 1/4 kilos if the size was the same as the brass, copper, and silver. No gold version is planned.

Since the look of pressed brass coins/medals can sometimes resemble (to a degree) the look of certain pressed gold coins/medals, your best bet, if you like the gold/brass yellow metal look, may be to buy a brass Snake Dance medal.



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1.3 kilo coin of silver in that style would be really awesome.
However, I'm sure it comes with a hefty premium.

 

No doubt a hefty cost....but you can't even find the silver for sale anymore. Something like only 9 were ever minted and the production of them may have stopped.

In fact today, I have actually asked (through email) one of the reputable medal dealers to contact the Shanghai New Century Medals company to make specific inquiries regarding the actual mintage of the silver Snake Dance medal and also whether or not the mint has plans of producing any more.

I will post the info I get on this to this forum. I am not the only one in this forum who really wants a silver Snake Dance medal but probably can't afford it at the moment.




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Does anyone know what the price is in China for the various Mountain Resort Classical Garden Medals that are supposed to be released on May 28? That information will help us understand the price dynamics of MCC as they make their way from China to the rest of the world. In fact this will be an excellent case study of the price dynamics as outlined above as well as how long they take to get to people outside China, how many middle men the coins pass through and the proportion that leave China.

The Mountain Resort Medals are eagerly awaited both within and outside China. This is not a case of region specific or targetted numismatic release. It has a wide appeal all over. Many people outside China had to catch up with collecting the previous releases with consequent higher cost of acquisition.

I am hoping we can access these Mountain Resort Medals more affordablly than was the case for prior releases and soon enough. In fact you could aim for an early release certification from NGC and PCGS if you can send in the medals within a month of release for grading.

Please feel free to contribute any titbits you hear about this latest release. Thanks