I am currently running a contest in the contest section, and I have notcied some mention certain foreign bullion that carries a higher premium such as the Kookuburra and the Panda to name a couple. The question is which world coins carry the best value and will hold their premiums the best?
Like most things in life, the answer is "it depends". I answered Panda on the assumption we are talking worldwide value. I answered this way since there seem to be more non-collectors interested in Pandas, and I believe Chinese demand will continue to increase.
With Chinese Pandas, you REALLY need to know what you are dealing with otherwise you will be bitten with counterfeits. There are some high quality counterfeits out there as some of the older pandas are worth more than several hundreds. Even modern panda coins struck after 2000 are counterfeited.
So if I am buying from a company like Provident metals or Jmbullion I have to still worry about counterfits?
Never assume otherwise you will be burnt. This is just a few examples of some of the high quality counterfeits out in the market. http://www.pandacollector.com/rogue.html I'll be honest - I will not be able to tell without reading this site.
Excellent points gxseries. I was talking more about bullion gold pandas, but even then counterfeits are found. That website is enough to make me forget wanting to collect collectible silver pandas. Heck, many of those high quality fakes look better than the real coins. Scary stuff.
Silly question, but how could you tell if they are counterfits? Especially if they look as good as you both describe? also I did not notice any counterfits for 2013 in your article, I was considering buying those as one of my options, but now you have me worried.
The excellent website GX was kind enough to post is a great start. The best way to protect against counterfeits is to KNOW COINS. Know how they were made, how they look, know everything about them. Wholistic knowledge of coins is the only method I know to try to protect yourself. The danger of only using one method of identification, like magnet tests, or paper tests, or something like that is eventually counterfeiters will create coins that will defeat those tests. Learning everything you can about coins, and handle many different ones, is the best method I know to protect yourself.
