Gold Panda (People's Republic of China People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... )
Edge:	Reeded
Composition:	99.9% fine gold (Au Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a... )
Years of Minting:	1982–present
Obverse
Design:	Temple of Heaven Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest...
Designer:
Design Date:	1982
Reverse
Design:	Different illustrations of giant panda Giant Panda The giant panda, or panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo... s.
Designer:
Design Date:	Yearly

The Chinese Gold Panda is a series of gold bullion coins issued by the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. The official mint of the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 introduced the Panda gold bullion coins in 1982. The panda design changes every year (with a single exception) and the gold Panda coins come in different sizes and denominations, ranging from 1/20 troy oz. to 1 troy oz. (and larger ones as well).

There is also a Silver Panda

Chinese Silver Panda

The Chinese Silver Panda is a series of silver bullion coins issued by the People's Republic of China. The design of the panda is changed every year, and these are minted in different sizes and denominations, ranging from 0.5 troy oz...

 series issued with the same designs as the gold Panda coins.

History

China issued its first gold coins picturing an Panda design in 1982, in sizes of 1, 1/2, 1/4, and 1/10 troy oz. of 999 fine gold. Beginning in 1983 another size was added - 1/20 oz. Larger Panda coins were issued in some years, weighing 5 and 12 oz. These popular coins are issued in Prooflike Brilliant Uncirculated quality with a different design each year. A freeze of the design was announced with the 2001 issues—and thus the 2002 Pandas were identical to 2001. But collectors spoke up in behalf of annual changes, and China reverted to their original policy. There are several mints

Mint (coin)

A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...

 that produce these coins, including but not limited to: Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, Shenzhen

Shenzhen

Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...

, Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 and Shenyang

Shenyang

Shenyang , or Mukden , is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing or Fengtianfu...

. Unlike coins made by US mints that carry mintmarks to distinguish their origin, Chinese mints usually do not employ mintmarks. In certain years there are minor variations—in the size of the date, style of the temple, etc.--in the coin design that allow the originating mint to be determined.

Description

Obverse:
Depiction of the Temple of Heaven in the center with Chinese characters on top saying "Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo" meaning People's Republic of China and the bottom the year of issue. If the issue is a commemorative issue, the theme will be marked here also.

Reverse:
Different portraits of panda

Giant Panda

The giant panda, or panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo...

 that changes every year (except for 2001 and 2002, which share the same design).

The official distributor for the gold and silver Panda coins in China is the China Gold Coin Corporation (CGCC); in the United States, Panda America has been an official distributor since 1982.

Denominations

The gold pandas are legal tender

Legal tender

Legal tender is a medium of payment allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Paper currency is a common form of legal tender in many countries....

 in the People's Republic of China, and are currently issued in face value

Face value

The Face value is the value of a coin, stamp or paper money, as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the minting authority. While the face value usually refers to the true value of the coin, stamp or bill in question it can sometimes be largely symbolic, as is often the case with bullion...

 denominations of 500, 200, 100, 50 and 25 Yuan; from 1982 through 2000 they were issued in denominations of 100, 50, 25, and 10 Yuan with the 5 Yuan added in 1983. These correspond with 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/10 and 1/20 Troy ounce

Troy ounce

The troy ounce is a unit of imperial measure. In the present day it is most commonly used to gauge the weight of precious metals. One troy ounce is nowadays defined as exactly 0.0311034768 kg = 31.1034768 g. There are approximately 32.1507466 troy oz in 1 kg...

s of gold, respectively. An exception is 1991, when 1 gram gold pandas were minted, issued in the denomination of 3 yuan.

Face Value	Nominal Gold Weight	Fine Weight	Total Weight	Diameter	Thickness
500 Yuan	1 Troy ounce		31.103g	32.05mm	2.70mm
200 Yuan	1/2 Troy ounce		15.5515g	27.00mm	1.85mm
100 Yuan	1/4 Troy ounce		7.7758g	21.95mm	1.53mm
50 Yuan	1/10 Troy ounce		3.1103g	17.95mm	1.05mm
25 Yuan	1/20 Troy ounce		1.5552g	13.92mm	0.83mm

External links

• Website of the China Gold Coin Corporation, official distributor of the Chinese Panda coins in China.