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The History of Panda CommemorativesThe China mint began minting panda coins in 1982 starting with gold pandas that had no monetary denomination. In 1983, the first silver pandas were minted with the addition of Yuan denominations (legal tender monetary amounts) on both the gold and silver panda coins.1984Panda commemorative issues (previously known as "show pandas") were born in 1984 when the China mint created a silver 1 ounce panda commemorative for the 3rd Hong Kong International Coin Exposition.A panda commemorative is defined as an official China mint issue of the same quality as the regular panda coins, but lacking a monetary denomination and dedicated to coin shows outside of mainland China. Today, the first issue is rather hard to find and expensive in high grade. Here is a beautiful example:
By 1987, the "show pandas" had expanded to include other coin shows around the world and several US cities including Long Beach, San Francisco, New Orleans, and New York. The first panda commemorative for the summer ANA convention was minted in 1986. The boom in panda commemoratives lasted for several years, but by the year 1997 there were no more being minted. This was not to be the end of this collectible and interesting program. But it wasn't until 2012 that another panda commemorative would be struck again! That year, the summer ANA show in Philadelphia had silver and gold commemoratives minted. 2019The Long Beach Expo has been fortunate to have 3 issues minted: 1987, 2013, and beginning in 2019 with the addition of the panda commemorative 35th anniversary issue.The year 2019 marks the 35th anniversary of these popular and interesting panda commemoratives. To celebrate this anniversary, the Shanghai mint created 3 commemoratives with low mintages to be distributed at the Long Beach Expo in June and September 2019. The 35th Anniversary Panda Commemoratives: China 2019, 5 Kilo Gold, 35th Anniversary of Panda Commemoratives, Mintage 5 China 2019, 2 Ounce Gold, 35th Anniversary of Panda Commemoratives, Mintage 38 China 2019, 5 Ounce Silver, 35th Anniversary of Panda Commemoratives, Mintage 100 The Silver version of 2019 is also the beginning of a 12 year Lunar Panda Series, which featured a design by Thomas S. Cleveland, former US Mint Master Designer. Mr. Cleveland will design the lunar series side of the commemoratives. The panda side will be designed by the Chinese official government mint in Shanghai. The silver 5oz had an added hologram effect which showed many colors when tilted into the light. This hologram effect was continued into the following year's silver pandas. The 35th Anniversary of Panda Commemoratives issue was comprised of 3 commemoratives that were distributed at the Long Beach Expo in 2019: |
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China 2019 35th Anniversary Issue Distribution: Long Beach Expo Mint: Official Shanghai China Mint Weight: 5 Kilos of 999 fine gold Diameter: 150 mm Edge: Plain with serial number Mintage: 5 Obverse: Panda in the wild, Cities issued commemoratives Reverse: 35th Anniversary PROOF certificate of authenticity |
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China 2019 35th Anniversary Issue Distribution: Long Beach Expo Mint: Official Shanghai China Mint Weight: 2 Ounces of 999 fine gold Diameter: 40 mm Edge: Plain with serial number Mintage: 38 Obverse: Panda in the wild, Cities issued commemoratives Reverse: 35th Anniversary PROOF with box and certificate of authenticity |
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China 2019 35th Anniversary Issue Distribution: Long Beach Expo Mint: Official Shanghai China Mint Weight: 5 Ounces of 999 fine silver Diameter: 70 mm Edge: Plain Mintage: 100 Obverse: Panda in the wild, Cities issued commemoratives Reverse: Lunar Series, Year of the Pig, 1st of the series Designer: Thomas S. Cleveland, United States Mint Master Designer PROOF with box and certificate of authenticity |
2020The 2020 Official Long Beach Show Panda Commemorative Issue was delayed by the coronovirus pandemic and came out in 2021.It celebrated the Year of the Rat and was released at the September 2021 show The Shanghai mint created 3 pandas this year:
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