I pulled a picture from Apemx left coin and tried to take a better shot of my Panda right. the line at the bottom is were i cut through to find a copper core, which was none. (note the ice cube messed up the proof field, i wouldn't use that method). it doesn't matter on this coin, because i cut it. issues with the light, its very silver. The revere of my coin has better details than the coin the left. Here is the edge side up, slanted and the edge side down. There are a lot of differences, mine wieghts 30.1, which is right on, its all silver inside, right on 40mm. i now think its a fake. you judge..
I would put a large wager on it being authentic. I'd be interested to know what material the people who believe it is fake think was used to create this coin?
If the Apemex image is of a real coin and not an artists rendition, then your coin is fake. There are noticeable differences between it and your coin. if it is an artists rendition then it doesn't mean anything.
For what it's worth, I compared a number of genuine examples yesterday and the APMX photo above indeed matches.
The two coins pictured are actually different, there is 4 blocks on the bottom staircase (or whatever you want to call it) on the one on the right and 3 blocks on the Apmex picture. Then there are 5 blocks on the second staircase on the Apmex and 6 on Eng's pic.
And I, even as one who does not gamble, would wager that it is indeed fake, and be supremely confident in doing so based upon the evidence thus far presented. If the design is identical on all 2016 panda releases (silver, gold, etc) yet doesn't match on the OP's example, there's only reasonable conclusion. At this point, especially since we've (on the forum) no way to identify it, the metal used to produce is inconsequential.
Inconsequential compared to what? Eng did you happen to ask the dealer where he purchased these from? I think I may have found a possible metal used: molybdenum Right now its about $5.40 per lb and has silverish type color. I don't know how easy it is to work with though.
Inconsequential, meaning that if it can be positively identified as being counterfeit by other absolute means, it's composition is unimportant as its not going to change the outcome. If the design is incorrect, and since an identical design was apparently used for all versions, it doesn't matter what it's made of as its not a genuine Panda.
Certainly... a somewhat related one that comes to mind is the 1999 Panda with large and small dates, but thus far I've found no mention or photographic evidence that any sort of different variety/design was used in 2016. I have looked at probably a good 50+ of the 1toz version and all have matched exactly. In addition, the kilo and gold versions all match exactly (design-wise) to the aforementioned. If you closely compare the areas I mentioned in an earlier post, you'll see that there are subtle yet still significant differences. In particular, although one example of many, notice how the leaves are clustered around ".999" on known genuine examples and compare to the OP's. This area is fairly visible in the above (OP posted) photos.
New to forum and not a panda expert yet, but the Temple details on the obverse are the give away on counterfeit pandas. The 2016 temple design should have three posts on the lower level instead of four. Also, the center flats on the stairs should have a pattern instead of a smooth surface. Older panda obverse temple designs had a different number of posts and distinct details...details that lazy counterfeiters do not engrave/transfer as they focus on the reverse design. Edit someone else pointed out these differences. But, the temple details match reverse design for the 1992-2001 panda.
