Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Singapore Coin Fair Pandas

In the 1980's and 1990's, China frequently issued special panda commemoratives to mark important international numismatic shows, such as Munich, San Francisco, Basil, and others. This tradition, dormant since 1997, has been revived with and exciting new issue for the 2012 Singapore Coin Fair.

The low mintages and attractive design of this set of pandas should be very appealing to Chinese coin collectors.

2012 Singapore Show Pandas Mintage
1 oz Silver Panda 10,000
5 oz Silver Panda  2,500
1/2 oz Gold Panda  2,500
5 oz Gold Panda      99

The production of the generic "standard issue" pandas has grown dramatically in recent years to meet staggering demand.  The 2012 1oz Silver pandas will reach an incredible 8,000,000 and the 1/2oz gold 600,000.  The generic 5oz silver:  50,000 and the generic 5oz Gold: 5,000.  Compared to the standard issue 2012 Pandas, the Singapore show numbers are minuscule!  These are on par with 1990's Panda proofs and show medals.

Adding even more potential to these Pandas, collectors have begun to identify unique varieties of each of the Singapore coins.  The 5 oz Silver has 3 known varieties, generated as a result of a broken die during minting.    The one ounce and the gold are also likely to have sub-types not yet identified.  Varieties are good because each type will have a very low mintage, making each a potential rarity.

Demand for these coins at the Signapore show was strong, and the 5oz Gold is now reportedly sold out at the distributor.  Current sales of the other coins continues to be brisk.

This is a rare opportunity to acquire some very special low mintage pandas.  Once the the modest quantities are sold out, prices are likely to rise.


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