I was just wondering, what do the investors and stackers think about colored pandas? I see that some are merely colored while others seem to be colored and gilded. As a general rule, would these be more worth than the standard bullion of the year in question, or would they be worth less? Who is it that do the coloring job? Is it done at the original mint, or is it something done in the aftermarket? I see on ebay that some are even graded, so they must be recognized in some way. Who are buying these colored versions? Is it a variation that you need in your collection to be complete for a certain year, or is it mostly something bought as a gift? Is it a serious numismatic item, or is it just for fun? What do you all think?
It's often a matter of personal opinion. Some are worth more... The Comeaux Collection has some very expensive colored Pandas in there. I think Panda Collector might have a really good idea as to where the Pandas get colored. I hear the Europeans like the colored versions. I think it could be a serious numismatic item, especially if it's in the Comeaux Collection. I don't have any though.
Thanks for your reply, Yennus! There are so many facets of our dear pandas, and till now I have ignored the colorized ones a bit. I had a feeling that the colorized pandas might be a European thing, maybe even a German thing, as they seem to like colorized versions of the Australian lunars as well. Do you know if these add to the mintage of the standard bullion coin, or if the colorized versions mean that the population of the bullion coin decrease as they are being colorized?
The Chinese Mints produced colorized proofs for years 1997, 1998 & 1999. In 1997 & 1998 there was a 1 oz & a .5 oz colorized proof minted. For the year 1999 there was a 1 oz colorized proof minted. I do not particularly care for them much but have them as part of the collection. Several other panda coins were also colorized outside of the Chinese mints and are not recognized by NGC or PCGS. I had purchased a couple of the various colored years a while back at close to spot and submitted to NGC. They came back as "colorized outside of mint". I then used my PCGS membership and attempted to submit them there but they came back the same way as something like "not authentically colorized by mint". I guess one or two of these got by PCGS because I do own a colorized 2006 MS69 and I checked population on it and it says only 2 in population. The majority of these "outside mint" colorizations I have seen are authentic pandas but not recognized by grading companies. I think they were colorized in Europe. I would think the ones you are speaking of that are graded must be 1997, 1998 & 1999. If they are of different than these years and graded please post the link.
The colorized pandas are minted separately, and are not counted in the BU population. In fact, they are proof coins. There are a few on the eBay list with mintage and sales figures right now: http://www.livebusinesschat.com/smf/index.php?topic=4802.msg18993#msg18993 Whether or not you need them to have a complete set of pandas, it's really a matter of personal preference. For me, I would still count them as part of the silver panda series.
Thank you for a very interesting reply and an importand distinction, comeaux!! You are totally correct, the ones I saw graded so far are from 1997, 1998 or 1999. This made it easy to jump to the erroneous conclusion that all years would be recognized by the grading companies, so your experience with this definitely is valuable. Could coins not colorized by the mint then be likened to coins that have been defaced, equal to coins put in pendants? The silver content is intact, but it sounds like something equal to taking a stamp off the envelope or painting a mustache on mona lisa... Is it correcto to say that for the years 1997-1999 the value of the coin might be higher than the standard version, but for other years the value is lower, closer to spot?
Hi, On the colour theme does anyone recognise the colorized coin in the picture and has anybody seen a set like this before?? Sorry poor pictures, but they are not mine.
for example the 1997 colorized are 100.000 minted but the conmemoratives are less minted. i think i prefer the conmemoratives because have less mintage but the colorized are more beautiful and less to complete a tao. only 3 http://www.china-mint.info/1997-chinese-coins.html
That's a good point, Thor! It's easy to complete a tao. Five coins, and you have all sizes and all 3 years. Instant complete collection.
I used to only like the regular pandas. But I'm coming around to liking colored and especially gilded coins of all kinds. I like the way the gold sets off the design.
