Peter Anthony: 1995 boasts the highest reported mintage of any 5 Yuan 1/20 oz, platinum Panda at 10,000. The coins were reportedly subcontracted to the Perth Mint in Australia. They are sometimes found sealed but it’s not certain if they were sealed by Perth, or by a later distributor. In any case, the pouches look nothing like those from any Chinese mint. The Perth Mint did a nice job with these and most graded examples are PF-69.

The mid-1990’s were a time of intense interest and speculation in platinum and the metal was popular for use in jewelry. Jewelers were a major market for the smallest Pandas like this one. That many of the coins were indeed used in pieces of jewelry is evidenced by the many coins today that show damage from mounting. There was also attrition from melting when platinum prices were high. The result is that this coin is seen less often than its mintage would suggest. Because of the way these coins were handled most do not grade particularly well. Only about 40% of graded coins are PF-69 so high grade coins aren’t common. The 1995 5 Yuan platinum Panda is part of the NGC Registry set, “Platinum 1/20 Ounce Panda, 1993-1997, Mint State and Proof.”