Chinese Coins: Show Time!

If July was quiet for modern Chinese coins, August made up for it. This was show month. It began with the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Denver and then quickly jumped to Hong Kong, China for two more coin shows. These events brought together numismatists from all around the world.

So what is so interesting about a coin show? Well, the opportunity to find the unexpected and to learn something new is always there. This is particularly true for modern Chinese coins, where so many releases are not well understood.

In the huge convention hall at the ANA show, there were dealers and tables for almost any kind of coin imaginable. Most specialize in USA coins, but there are lots of world coin dealers and some who just happen to have some.

I don’t often take the time to search through boxes of dealer’s coins, but it can be worth the effort. In Denver, such a search turned up an interesting token (more about tokens later) from a Chinese silk shop in New York. It cost me $25 and another dealer later told me it is unusual because it retains some mint luster and is easily worth $50. I also happily bought a pair of ANA Show Pandas from Panda America.

It was in Hong Kong, China, though, that I really struck pay dirt. The aisles of the Hong Kong Coin Show at the Mira Hotel were filled with buyers and sellers when it opened on August 18th. Many of the most important Mainland China dealers also attended. Even so, there were opportunities to find numismatic gems.

For instance, all of the official Chinese Mints, like Shanghai and Shenyang, have issued countless medals to mark holidays and events, or for other reasons. One dealer from China set out on his table an entire box full of rarely seen, modestly priced Mint medals. Talk about good fortune!

There was a set of Shanghai Mint 1984 gold-plated goldfish medals, as well as a set of four gold-plated plants also from Shanghai. The goldfish medals have attracted some attention in recent years. There are several versions of them, including silver and silver-plated. At one time they were called fakes, but were all struck by the Shanghai Mint as an early marketing experiment. All can be graded by NGC.

From the Shenyang Mint came a desk set of Lucite-encased Lunar Year medals, 40mm and 60mm gilt medals for the 1995 World Table Tennis Championships, a 40mm gilt 1996 Lunar Year of the Rat medal, a 40mm brass 1985 Shenyang Mint anniversary medal graded NGC PF 67 (NGC population 7) and a 1997 gilt copper China Gold Coin Inc. authorized “Return of Hong Kong, China” medal. This is not the commonly seen design. The COA notes it is the first time a new plating technology was employed.

Recent discoveries at coin shows include a 40mm brass 1985 Shenyang Mint anniversary medal graded NGC PF 67 Ultra Cameo.

In that box there were also products issued by private mints. The difference between official and unofficial Chinese mint products is that official products are struck and authorized by a government mint. They must conform to all regulations and laws, including weight and purity. In many collectors’ eyes, official products are more desirable than unofficial ones.

Unofficial numismatic items may have allure too, however. Not every fine coin artist is a mint employee, and some of those who work privately may be retired from official work. Private issues can be numismatically important.

For example, a friend of mine has put together an outstanding collection of Shanghai tokens. Tokens are (to use Wikipedia’s definition): “coin-like objects used instead of coins. … The key point of difference … is that a coin is issued by a governmental local or national authority and is freely exchangeable for goods or other coins, whereas a token … is often (but not always) issued by a private company, group, association or individual.”

Many of these tokens are extraordinarily rare and offer a look into Shanghai’s past commerce and customs that would otherwise be lost. This collection has immense historical and numismatic value, yet is entirely privately minted.

So what private goodies did I find? Several types of Sino-German friendship medals with Panda designs grabbed my attention. The composition of the two medal sets varied. One set is made up of a pair of 15 gram .999 silver medals. Another, with an identical design, is gold-plated silver. The mintages? There were twelve (yes 12!) gilt sets struck along with 19 of pure silver. A bimetallic version has a mintage of 299.

The silver and gilt silver sets cost around $90 US apiece and contain 30 grams of silver. With those mintages, it was irresistible. Were they struck for some conference? The answer will require more research, but that is part of what makes numismatics so exciting. It is also part of what makes hunting at coins shows so much fun, as well.

Last, but not to be forgotten, is the Hong Kong International Coin Convention & Antique Watch Fair. This was the final show of the month and, really, it has become mostly a watch show. Coin and currency dealers make up less than 20% of the tables. Nonetheless, there are some dealers who still only come to this show, and I did happen upon a 1996 Small Date silver Panda with exceptionally nice surfaces.

So, you never know what you might find. See you at the next show, and happy collecting.

Peter Anthony is an expert on Chinese modern coins with a particular focus on Panda coins. He is an analyst for the NGC Chinese Modern Coin Price Guide as well as a consultant on Chinese modern coins.