Chinese Gold Coin: A Story Of 'Panda'moniun

The Chinese government in order to consolidate its position in the world bullion market, released the Chinese gold coin. The Chinese gold coin is a 24 karat .999 fine bullion coin. It is famous for the image of Chinese giant panda on the reverse. The extreme purity of gold contained in the coin made it really popular in the United States and other major bullion markets of the world. Today the Chinese gold Panda is cherished by gold investors and gold coin collectors alike.

The Chinese gold coin is also one of the few bullion coins which undergoes a design change every year. The only other popular bullion coin which undergoes this annual transition is the Australian gold nugget. The tendency of the panda to sport new designs almost every year has helped the Chinese government build a sustaining demand for the coin among coin collectors. The gold panda was also used in jewelry at its prime.

Another interesting fact about the Chinese gold coin is that the Chinese government issues the coins at a higher percentage over the price that is standard of the gold bullion. Ever since the coins were launched in 1982, they were in consistent demand and by the coming of 1987, a coin of the 1982 lot was valued at $3000.

With the passage of time, the 'panda'monium started to die. On the other hand the Chinese government, though that it had struck a gold mine and started to mint more and more coins. The result was that the demand from collectors started to die down. A number of political events that happened in China further led to decline in the demand of Chinese gold panda. The government had to reduce the mintage numbers of these coins.

By the coming of the change of millennium, the Chinese gold panda was on the verge of becoming an endangered species. The coins minted in 1980s were only able to make up half of the price, they were sold for in 1987. The coins which were minted in the decade of 1990s are also hard to come by.

For quite some time now, the demand for Chinese gold panda has started to rise again. This time it is in demand from China itself. The main reason behind the revival of the Panda can easily be the fact that most of the industrial manufacturing units are now located in the mainland People's Republic of China. The people are getting more money as compared to what they got during the rule of hard line leaders. The Chinese economy has moved ahead of the Great Leap and the demand of Panda shows it.

The degree of purity and rarity of the Chinese gold coin makes it a fine addition to the collection of any coinage enthusiast.