Silver Pandas -Video

An interesting and informative short clip I stumbled across on Youtube.
He sure has a nice collection of Silver Proof Pandas!

Half Pound (8oz) Gold Plated Fine Silver Round

This is a nice 8oz (half pound) 24k gold plated silver round by Washington Mint.

The design is a replica of Saint-Gaudens US Gold Double Eagle, for which the 1933 date sold for a world record price of US$7.5 million back in 2002!!!

Very interesting read about how President Franklin Roosevelt taking American off the Gold standard led to the rarity of the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Gold Double Eagle:

http://coins.about.com/od/famousrarecoinprofiles/p/1933_Gold_Eagle.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_eagle

Sadly, I don't own the real McCoy and this gold plated art round is about the closest I can get (and afford) to the real thing :)

2003 UK Britannia Silver

2003 Isle of Man Bronze Crown - Currency Converter

Okay, what's a Bronze coin doing on a blog about silver coins?

Well, this is such an interesting coin that I thought I ought to share it with you. This is probably the first legal tender coin in the world with moving parts!

This coin was issued in 2003 to commemorate the adoption of the Euro currency by the initial Euro members.

It has a silver rotating dial which shows the currency exchange rate of each of the Euro countries at the time of the adoption of the Euro on 1/1/2003! Cool yah?

The coin has a face value of 60 pence and only 15,000 pieces were minted.

Click on the picture and look closely, can you spot all the 12 stars which correspond to the 12 Euro members?

1999 UK Britannia Coin Cover

Lady Britannia in Colour!

Here's a treat for all you Britannia fans out there, Lady Britannia in full colour!

Bet you haven't seen one like this before. Enjoy!

Endangered Species - Pandas

Like the endangered Pandas, the silver Panda coin is probably one of the most challenging series to assemble due to the rarity of some key date years. The design changes every year (except 2001 & 2002 which used the same design) and the mintage figure varies from less than 100,000 to more than 500,000 per year, as record keeping of actual mintage is somewhat inconsistent.

More info here: http://www.pandacollector.com/silver-pandas-2.html

My first silver Panda was "rescued" from an antique shop in Chinatown area about a month ago. I happened to walk pass the shop one afternoon and on seeing that they had some old China silver coins on display, I went in to asked if they had any silver Panda.

The shopowner, an elderly man in his 70's, told me he has only got 1 piece. He showed me a 1994 1 oz silver Panda in a capsule, still sealed in the original mint plastic. However, on closer examination, I realised that part of the capsule had cracked and a small section had actually chipped off, leaving an expose air hole around a section of the capsule rim.

I had no idea than how much a 1994 silver Panda is worth since I don't have any in my collection. But I do know the average market value of a silver Panda is around $50-$60 for non-key date. The shopowner made me an offer of $50. Using the "chipped" capsule as a bargaining "chip", I managed to get him to part with it for $40 :p


Getting home, I immediately went online to find out the market value of my first 1 oz silver Panda and learned that 1994 was a low mintage year with an average selling price of $100 a piece currently! I got a real bargain indeed!

Here 's the Panda I "rescued"...

My immediate dilemma upon getting this Panda home was whether I should transfer it to a new capsule or keep it this way.

Transferring would mean removing it from the original mint seal state which might reduce its value. However, there is already some light toning around the coin rim near the crack due to air exposure. It might get worst over time.

I eventually decided to transfer it to a new capsule as the sight of the cracked capsule and the toning is annoying. So here it is now snuggly fitted in a new capsule together with a few other Pandas which I acquired subsequently to keep it company :)

And here's something I learned about "fake Pandas"(its China so no surprise), which make silver Panda collecting even more interesting!

"In order to prevent counterfeit, China Mints made few subtle changes in the design of the temple (obverse) for different dates. Three rows of circular rock fence of the walkway on the both sides of stairway of temple have different number of posts for each row.

For example, for genuine coins, there are six posts in the bottom row for the period of 1983-1985, 5 posts for the period of 1987-1991, 4 posts for the period of 1992-2001, and 3 posts for the period of 2002-2006.

All counterfeits, based on the pictures at ebay, have 3 or 4 posts in the bottom row. Starting 2002, drawings were added to the divider of the stairway in genuine coins, while the counterfeit coins may have a smooth surface.

In summary, those coins with 4 posts in the bottom row for years between 1983-1991 and 2002-2006 are counterfeit.

Those coins with 3 posts for years between 1983-2001 are counterfeit. Those coins with 4 posts, between 1992-2001 may need further examination by comparing pictures with genuine coins as outlined in 3, 4, and 5.

All pandas, prior to 2002, with drawings on the surface of the center divider of the stairway, and after 2002, a smooth surface, are counterfeit.

There are other design changes made by China Mints for different years, such as, the door to the temple and the number of the beams on top of the door. The counterfeit coins do not match those design changes.

There are no 1982, 1986 and 1988 1 oz silver pandas issued by China Mint as suggested by the sellers of counterfeit coins."

Legacies of Freedom - Silver Bullion Coin Set

This beautiful special edition set was issued by the US Mint in January 2004. It consist of a 1oz 2003 American Silver Eagle and a 1oz 2002 Silver Britannia. Only 50,000 sets were produced in this unique folder with rotating coin display capsule.

More details here:

http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/index.cfm?action=press_release&ID=480

Silver Britannia.....cont'd

1998-2003 Britannia

1998,1999

2000,2001

2002,2003

British SIlver Britannia

"In 1997 the Royal Mint started production of silver bullion coins also under the name “Britannia”. The alloy used is Britannia silver.

Britannia silver is an alloy of silver containing 95.84% silver, with the balance usually copper.This standard was introduced in England by Act of Parliament in 1697 to replace sterling silver as the obligatory standard for items of "wrought plate".... with millesimal fineness 958 (95.8 %). The silver coins are available in 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, and 1/10 ounce.Silver Britannias have been released each year beginning in 1997, when a silver proof set was offered. In 1997 and in all subsequent even-numbered years the reverse design has depicted a standing Britannia.

Britannia was the term originally used by the Roman Empire to refer to the island of Great Britain. The term was later used to describe a Roman province covering much of the island, apart from the area beyond the Antonine Wall belonging to the Picts in the north, which was known as Caledonia.... figure. Beginning in 1999 and continuing in odd-numbered years, a series of alternate, non-repeating depictions of Britannia have replaced the standing figure on the reverse........"

extracted from:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Britannia_coin

Here are some of my collection.
These silver Britannia cost much more than the regular silver bullion coins owing to the fact that maximum mintage per year is capped at 100,000 pieces across all product type. Its also the heaviest 1 ounce silver coin to date, weighing a total of 32.45 grams (31.10 grams pure silver and balance copper). The proofs are especially hard to come by.

Some interesting read about the 2008 Britannia:
http://www.royalmint.com/focus/britannia.aspx
**Note: This is the first time a new design is use on an even numbered year. In the past, all even years (98,00,02,04,& 06), the traditional standing Britannia was used.
Will the Royal Mint use this design again for 2010 or perhaps another new design?

PROOF Eagle versus Uncirculated Eagle

A proof coin is a coin struck using a special, high-quality minting process, and made especially for collectors. Modern proof coins often have mirror-like fields and frosted devices, although proof coins struck prior to the mid twentieth century are often distinguished only by their high quality surfaces.

A reverse proof coin is a coin that is struck in the same manner as a normal proof coin, except that the fields are frosty and the raised devices are mirror-like. The term reverse proof does not mean that only the reverse side of the coin is struck in proof finish. The entire coin is in proof finish, with the "reverse" meaning stemming from the fact that the fields are frosty.....
extracted from:

http://coins.about.com/od/coinsglossary/g/proofcoindef.htm

Here are some pictures comparing Proof Eagle with an Uncirculated Eagle.

Aside from the mirror shine finish, can you spot the difference between the 2006 and the 2008 Eagle?

American Silver Eagle

Probably THE most widely collected silver bullion coin, well at least in US if not in this part of the world, the American Silver Eagle (ASE) was first release in 1986 as part of the American Eagle Bullion Program.

More info here:

http://silvereagleguide.com/

Yearly mintage is unlimited. You can see the various mintage numbers on the right hand column from the above link.

*Note- High global demand in 2008/2009 resulted in a shortage of silver blanks causing the US mint to temporary suspend the launch of Proof Eagles and 2009-W uncirculated Eagles.

Here are some graded slabs in my collection. I will touch on graded coins another time.