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The Chinese Gold Panda is the official bullion coin of the People’s Republic of China. The .999 gold coin is one of the best-known bullion coins in the world. It is also one of the only ones to be issued prominently in two different weights.

A word about weights and face values

Before we go on, we need to discuss these two different weights. The PRC has issued Gold Pandas since 1982 and originally offered them with the 1 oz size as its headliner. It also released ½ oz, ¼ oz, and 1/10 oz options, as is common with many sovereign mints and their bullion coins. It even released a smaller 1/20 oz version. Since its inception, the Gold Panda has been minted with .999 fine gold.

In the ensuing decades, the Chinese government has enacted two rather significant changes to the Gold Panda. The first change occurred in 2001. In that year, the original face value of the coin increased from ¥100 to ¥500.

For collectors, the change likely didn’t matter very much aside from aesthetic concerns. However, in 2016, the Panda underwent a more significant alteration as the Chinese government elected to shift to the metric system for the coin. Thus, since 2016, the Chinese Gold Panda’s primary weight has been 30 grams, rather than 1 troy ounce.

1 oz Chinese Gold Panda Price

The foundation for the price of a Gold Panda is the spot price for an ounce of gold. Even though the Chinese government has not been shy about price controls at times in history, the reality is that it must compete on the global market, and the spot price is the baseline for gold worldwide.

On top of the spot price, any dealer you choose will attach a premium on top of the spot price. The premium is the fee the dealer charges for facilitating the connection between you and the Chinese Panda.

It’s important to understand, however, that 30 grams is slightly lighter than a troy ounce. The post-2016 Chinese Pandas are roughly 96.45% of an ounce, so the baseline amount generated by the spot price for gold is slightly lower than the spot itself.

Thus, some of the prices for the 30-gram coins may look deceivingly cheap, as they may fall below the stated spot price - even after the premium. However, make sure to calculate what the proportional spot price for 30 grams is before you consider making a purchase.

Now, the premiums for Gold Pandas tend to vary much more than other sovereign bullion coins. You can find options for coins with premiums under 3%, but you can also find rarer sealed versions of the 1 oz Gold Pandas where the premium exceeds 12%.

American Gold Eagles bear higher premiums than most sovereign coins. However, a pre-2016 Gold Panda that is merely sealed still commands a higher price than the typical Gold Eagle. You’d have to insist on a proof version of a Gold Eagle in PR70 condition before you’d pay the same amount.

All that is to say that there is a rarity component with the Chinese Gold Panda that plays a major role in its premium. During some years, the PRC released only a limited number of coins, and finding one of that year is tricky - especially with the 1 oz varieties.

Because of their increased rarity and novelty - each Gold Panda issue year features a slightly different design - you may have some difficulty getting the right value for one of these when you try to sell. There will be buyers, but make sure that you understand the market value of your Gold Panda before you say yes to an offer.

Find the Lowest Price on 1 oz Chinese Gold Panda

With so much variation in price on Gold Pandas, you must be strategic about how you purchase them. So, here are some steps you can take to minimize the premiums you pay.

The first thing to do is make sure you stay away from any proof or uncirculated versions of the Gold Panda. Even though the premiums for ungraded Pandas can be high on their own, there’s no reason to shoulder more expense upfront if you’re trying to stay economical. Proofs and uncirculated coins simply have too much care and precision in their processes to go for bargain prices near spot.

Secondly, if you can accept a Gold Panda without designating the year of its mintage, you can save yourself some money. Choosing a random year allows the dealer to dip into its stock (or overstock) and find a less expensive version of the coin without sacrificing its underlying quality.

The price of a Gold Panda seems particularly dependent on its year of issue, in fact, due to variations in its mintage numbers. So, don’t expect a random year Gold Panda to be from, say, 1998, where the mint produced just over 20,000 coins.

Now, normally we would recommend that you buy in bulk to cut down on costs. Many sovereign coins are available in tubes of 10 or 20, and the per-coin cost is usually significantly lower if you can afford the upfront price. However, the Chinese Gold Panda is difficult to find - if at all - in tubes or other multiple formats. 

So, if you do find an option to buy Pandas in bulk, proceed with caution. It may be a great deal, but it is also a suspicious one, and you should double-check, and triple-check your chosen dealer before you move forward.

Coin Highlights

Here are some of the big things you need to know about the Chinese Gold Panda:

• .999 purity.
• First issued in 1982.
• Switched from troy ounces to grams in 2016.
• Face value increased from ¥100 to ¥500 in 2001.
• Obverse features Beijing’s Temple of Heaven and has never changed.
• Reverse features Giant Panda but varies slightly each year of issue.
• More extreme variations in weight than other sovereign coins.
• Tremendous number of fractional coin options.

Fractional Coins

Regardless of whether we’re discussing the 1 oz or 30 g version of the Gold Panda, the expense of buying one is significant. Spending no less than two thousand dollars on a gold coin is a prospect that only a small percentage of collectors can relish it.

Like most sovereign mints, the PRC issues fractional versions of its bullion coins to bridge the gap for smaller time investors. In fact, due to the mint’s policy and the change to the metric system in 2016, you can find a greater variety of fractional versions of the Gold Panda than any other major bullion coin series.

Available fractional sizes for the Gold Panda include:

• ½ oz
• ¼ oz
• 1/10 oz
• 1/20 oz
• 15 gram
• 8 gram
• 3 gram
• 1 gram

In addition, the PRC issues some versions of the Chinese Gold Panda that are heavier than an ounce. You can buy Gold Pandas in both 12 oz and 150-gram denominations, which are significantly larger than the traditional 1 oz size.

Amazingly, there is even a 1 kilo Gold Panda! We don’t know of any other major sovereign bullion coin that supports a 1 kilo version as part of its issues. If you’re looking for rarity and size, this weight is something quite different and special.

Specifications