As some of you know, I liquidated my entire silver panda collection. Raw, OMP, NCS, NGC, PCGS... the works. I had bills to pay and a business opportunity that just didn't materialize as planned. So now as I am getting around to visiting the forum again, I'm finding that I do miss some of my little bears. I've been away from the forum and the panda market for some months now, only visiting sporadically. I'm not really sure about the sentiment or valuations other than what I am experiencing trying to move the last remnants of my panda collection. How are you feeling about the panda market (it seems to have weakened some)? If you were me, would you get back in and rebuild the collection? One thing that discouraged me is all of the varieties. I hate unfinished collections, and it seems there is always a new variety popping up. Maybe take up a different series, MCC or others (I do have a quantity of Australian Lunar S1 & S2, but not in all sizes)? Forget about it all together? All unbiased opinions/suggestions welcome.
My feeling is that the panda(S10Y) which was weaker for the past 6 months has probably picked up again. Probably more demand because spot price has improved. Why not start a S5Y collection which is smaller in number and more affordable(undervalued). Yennus has plenty at good prices. If your long term view on silver / gold is bullish then it might be a good time pick more bullion with current dip.
I buy bullion regularly and I trade junior miners. Long-term I am bullish. I'm trying to decide what to do about my personal collection. I've been clearing out my "stray" items and I can't seem to decide what I really want to focus on.
I think now is an excellent time to get back in. Momentum is picking up after a long time without much.
Don't go for sets, go for key coins in the series at good prices. Collecting sets is a mug's game, you always end up spending more than you should just to get an item that you don't already have. Few coins in a set will be the big money coins, the rest are just filler. It's not like you sit down with your albums and look at them that often anyway. I would rather see a page of top coins than have albums stacked on a shelf full of cheaper coins. which reminds me, I have to clear all the albums of cheap coins off my shelves. I am also coming to the realisation that while it may have been fun to pull every Captain Cook 1970 50 cent coin out of circulation there is no real need to keep them all and I would like some of my space back.
yep ,I have spent a lot of money in mis steps building a collection,,,, stay focused ,sets are probably not that important , buy the rarest quality coins your pocket can afford, and most importantly buy what you enjoy
My first questions would be - Did you make money the first time round ? If so pretty simple. If not, why not and can you prevent that again. That should make it easier
my inability to identify genuine and sort out fakes keeps me away from pandas ... as well as their price makes it discouraging. So, I found another - commemorative chinese coins, especially with animals. Limited mintage makes them appealing much more than panda coins.
I am not a serious collector of panda coins, and have no long history either. but I think to start to collect panda coins now, you are competing with some very rich Chinese. Here is an example http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...sunhua2012&iid=-1&de=off&interval=0&items=100 Not to say you cannot get a good deal, but that is time/energy consuming.
Lot's of interesting points. Yes, I made money on my liquidation. Plus I generally use the items I flip to fund what I intend to keep. It does seem that the S5Ys are gaining demand, so that might be a nice little set to put together quickly. There are a lot of MCCs that are interesting, but I would need to educate myself on them further. I've really only followed the pandas and unicorns. I've never had too hard of a time finding deals. For us in the U.S., it always seemed like we had a large selection of MCC available to pursue. JC, the trouble is that I don't know what I really enjoy anymore. After buying/selling hundreds of pandas they lost a bit of their appeal. Maybe I am just experiencing some postpartum depression right now, lol. Seeing the great coins changing hands on here and CCF would make any one desire to be in this market though. I feel like there are things out there that I like, but don't love. Of course, it's never good to get so attached to an investment/collection that you'll never sell it either. Decisions, decisions.
The thing about MCC is that Pandas are but a minority part of MCC. I find some of the historical stuff interesting so I started collecting those historical figures. In fact I learned a boatload of Chinese history in the process and some even my parents had no idea about and they've got far more extensive Chinese historical knowledge than me. I had ZERO INTEREST in the 93 Historical Figures because they were all communist bastards featured on the coins and did not buy them. I would love to have Wu Ze Tian in PF69 & a 5oz 1988 Guan Yin & 1995 ROTK but that is one hell of a purchase and I could probably buy a car instead...so despite having coins I'd love to have I can't afford them and only drool . Heck I could probably have 10% of a house paid off with those 3. Having said that I agree with the above of not buying shit you don't like. I have bought coins to speculate before without liking them and it feels like a poor use of my 'investment' money because of the higher risk to me. If price drops I'm up shit creek without a paddle whereas if it was something I liked at least I could still like it regardless of the price. I suggest you take a Mr Ge book and look at the pictures of MCCs and see if any interest you. There are literally over hundreds of different things to choose from and chances are something will interest you. - Dragon & Phoenix - Cultural Sets (such as Historical Figures) - Goldfish - Peacocks - Longman Grotto Art - Peking Opera - Sports stuff - Guan Yin - Mazu - Non-Chinese historical figures - Notable literary people - Scenic stuff (like Wudang Mountain) etc And if none of the MCCs interest you maybe you should stack bullion because that's cool too.
And then of course there are the ever popular lunars, that is the problem with MCC too many great and interesting choices....... I have started a lunar silver collection for my daughter,s , I decided just fans and blossoms 12 years ,then of course you start to look at the colored it is a ridiculous never ending cycle that's what makes it so much fun!
I've decided to pursue completing a 1/20 oz. gold panda set. I've been a fan of the baby bears for some time, but never really thought about completing a set until I was inspired by PandaHalves amazing set of 1/2 oz. NGC bears. 1/20s are at least within my budget, but I also think the 1/20s are probably far more neglected and abused than most other pandas since they're often used in jewelry or simply melted down after heavy circulation (at least that's common here in the U.S.). I've been wanting to increase my gold holdings any way, so this gives me further motivation. I still like silver pandas, but I probably won't go out of my way to hunt for bargains or sets. If I see one, I'll grab it, but I think a complete 1/20 oz. set will keep me occupied for some time. Once that is done, I'll pursue something new. So if you have any nice OMP or MS68/69/70 1/20 oz. gold pandas you want to sell or trade, let me know!
I like these: - Goldfish - Peacocks Pandas are always first preference though I've got a few 1/20oz Gold Pandas available - hopefully something catches your interest.
