Are Silver Pandas a good idea??

There are fake 1/10 and 1/20 pandas ....

Best thing is to do research on these items yourself so you know what to look for. Better not to rely on others to tell you if the item is real or fake, at least IMO.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

IMO you are less likely to find a counterfeit Panda that is difficult to detect because if the counterfeiter is in China, this also means they can be charged with counterfeiting Chinese legal tender currency. This is considered a "Crime Undermining the Socialist Market Economic Order" which can carry the rather harsh penalty of death. The communists like their capitalism.

It is legal to copy coins so if someone is copying Pandas, it will be missing something pretty easy to catch such as the denomination. If you buy a modern panda you definitely want it in the original Mint issued vacuum plastic.

 

Took another look at my 1/20 gold. It's legit. But I'm sure gonna take a hard look at my next panda. You people have me paranoid now.

 

Here is good size silver panda for you:

http://www.providentmetals.com/2012-kilo-chinese-silver-panda-coin-with-box-and-coa.html

:smile TC

 

Trade it for the Perth Gold piece.

 

ASE and Silver Maple leaf for simple bullion investing, mixed with some generic silver rounds. Gold Maple leaves, AGE, and buffalo for purity. when you buy you have to think about selling what you have. I leave the overpriced pandas alone.

 

I like the idea of Silver Eagles and Maples mixed with generic. Especially since there are some nice generic bars and rounds.

 

I have only bought a couple of these, actually 1 silver ounce and a couple of gold 1/10's. I mean 3 gold 1/10's, I sold two of the gold coins and I still have one left. I still have the silver panda too, fortunately I've never had a problem. In fact, the first one I bought was on ebay and I didn't have a problem. The next one I bought was graded by NGC, bought it at my coin club. I sold both of those to two separate collectors that frequent this forum. There are many counterfeits and I am certainly not an expert at all. I don't know what it is but I like to be very careful, even extremely careful when looking to buy pandas.

 

I own a 2011 and 2012 1 once silver panda that are currently being graded at ANACS. They are beautiful coins. I'm thinking about purchasing a 2012 5 oz proof that I just found. Does anyone have any opinions on these? thanks.

http://www.providentmetals.com/2012-5-oz-chinese-silver-panda-coin-with-box-and-coa.html

 

While Panda coins are fun to collect you should always be careful when buying them off ebay. Make sure there is a return policy from the seller, and you should know what to look for. Counterfeit Pandas have hazy eyes and fur lines that run in the wrong direction. There are many other ways to spot counterfeits like the reverse Temple steps. Here is a link that should be helpful to all Panda collectors.

http://www.pandacollector.com/rogue.html

 

I think if you buy proofs you should be fine. I would start buying eagles.

 

Just one caveat about Pandas: When I sold my Gold last year at the beginning of this peak, the purchasers were only too happy to get most of it. It was stuff I got over the years when Gold was cheap, and figured (incorrectly, but still extremely favorably for myself) that gold had peaked. At any rate, all the American and Canadian Gold was extremely easy to sell at numismatic premiums. The Pandas were almost impossible to sell--NOBODY wanted them, as the quality of the counterfeits have become extremely good. Even dealers didn't want them at melt, and I ended up selling privately. The same goes for Silver. I agree with Brooklyn--Panda America is extremely reliable, and the coins (whatever metal) from them are genuine. However, if one intends to resell them, they are an extremely hard act for finding a resale buyer (my experience).

 

Not sure if you missed my message above, but they're copying the packaging as well. The chinese aren't stupid.... They KNOW there's people in the US that think the plastic packaging make it safer, so they're all too happy to copy that as well because it makes it harder for someone to tell they're fakes. you can't do a weight/dimensions test unless you chop the coins out of the plastic.

It is illegal in the US to mint fake bullion coins that aren't marked "copy" conspicuously. Doesn't mean that there isn't a sh**load of good counterfeits coming in from china. Doesn't mean that there aren't people doing making fakes here. Ever hear about the sovereign bust? That happened just this year. On a sidenote, if you like foreign gold, you're far better off going with 20 francs, or some other type of coin than sovereigns. Sovs are heavily copied and many contain a lower purity of gold, so it's hard to tell the difference. And I've come across some pretty good fakes before as well.

Also, it's foolhardy to assume that just because a coin says "one dollar" or "10 yuan" that it is real.

just my dos pesos... real dos pesos or not, i'll leave that to you to decide

 

I do not have any silver Chinese pandas but I did buy a 1/20th oz gold 1993 Chinese Panda today at a coin show in Alabama. Here is what it looks like:







I paid $78.00 for it today (spot gold finished today at $1584.00/oz). I normally do not buy gold Pandas since it is outside of what I normally buy (silver art bars) when I go to coin shows.

 

You know what??? I woulda bought that too for that price, in a heartbeat. Anytime I can buy pure gold or bullion gold coins (22k .916 or 21k ect) for spot or less, especially in small amounts, IM IN! Great buy man!!

 

No brainer? Who wouldn't be a buyer at that price?!?!Nice pick up!!

 

I'm not sure about pandas. I've heard they only eat shoots and leaves.

 

I usually do not buy fractional gold coins since I usually collect 1-oz silver art bars especially '70's 1-oz silver art bars. When I went to the coin show yesterday and realized that I only bought one silver art bar and still had plenty of cash left in my wallet, then I started looking around to pick up some fractional gold. When I saw the 1/20th oz gold '93 Panda, I asked the dealer how much it was and once he told me that it was going to cost me only $78, then I accepted that price right away and paid for it.

When I go to coin shows, I usually see 1/20th oz fractional gold coins sell for premiums ranging between $15 to $25 over melt value. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to buy that fractional gold panda for that low of a price. I did not care that it was "ex-jewelry" because, in my mind, gold is gold.

 

Ive bought coins like that, I have no problem with ex jewelry. In fact Ive bought jewelry with coins in it, and Ive scrapped the gold and kept the coins. In some lucky cases, you can remove the coin without causing much harm.