Chinese Silver Panda

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The Chinese Silver Panda is a series of silver bullion coins issued by the People's Republic of China. It changes its design every year and comes in different sizes, from 0.5 troy oz to 1 kilogram, with different denominations reflecting the weight.

Background
The program was started early in the 1980s but in different weight standards. These early coins were not 1 troy oz silver. There are several mints that produce these coins, including but not limited to: Shenzhen,  Shanghai and  Shenyang. Sometimes the different mints can be distinguished from the size of the year on the obverse of the coin. The coins' designs were made like this:

Obverse: Depiction of the Temple of Heaven in the center with Chinese characters on top saying "Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo" meaning People's Republic of China and the bottom the year of issue.

Reverse: Different portraits of panda that changes every year (except for 2001 and 2002, which used the same design).

There are varieties on the types of coins issued, the most common being uncirculated and proof versions. On some years of issue, the bank releases commemorative coins with privy marks or different combination of gold plating on either the obverse or reverse of the coin. There are no set rules on how many commemoratives can be issued in a year. The official distributor is China Gold Coin Corporation.

There is also a Gold Panda series issued in the same design as the silver one.

Counterfeits
In 2006, a flood of counterfeit 1-ounce silver pandas came onto the market, and were frequently encountered on eBay through sellers located in China, both BU and proof versions. Many of these were easily distinguishable from the real thing by the lack of a denomination, which almost all pandas have. Although these coins did not contain a significant amount of silver, they were marked with '1 oz Ag .999'. Also, some do include the denomination, and are difficult to distinguish from a real one without weighing them, or comparing them to a known real coin.

A random lot of 45 pieces purchased at a coin show, in the Denver area in 2006, exhibit the dates 1989 through 2000. None have the numeric denomination, and all weigh between 25.6 and 27.8 grams. Purchased from a middle-aged man.