MCC in initial usage referred mainly to fiat coins made by and for Chinese mints starting in 1979. Due to the increasing number and variety of non-fiat coins that have been made since, MCC at times is a term that covers both fiat and non-fiat coins the latter of which are also called medals. I liberally used MCC and the words "coins" and "medals" in my write up to refer to all modern Chinese precious and non-precious fiat and non-fiat coins.
There is controversy about coinage terminology and most of the Chinese coin forums have discussions on the matter. Badon, for example, has rather strong views. fwang2450 also has written on this. So have many others. Perhaps it is not who wins the argument that is the issue, it is the realization that there has been an evolution of Chinese coinage practices since the original terminology and abbreviation were instituted. This is similar to changes that have occurred all over arts and science necessitating the modification of older terminology or expanding their usage. "MCCM" could be a modification that encompasses "Modern Chinese Coins and Medals".
I am lazy of not reading all old threads of the discussion. Just try to get your clarification of your definition of MCC to ease the reader. MCC or fiat, no fiat and so on the most important is reader know it is refer to both by you.
The above notwithstanding everything I wrote still stands and your account confirms my main contention which is that there is little information available on modern Chinese coins and medals. Yes, as time goes on good detective work and some well placed guesses provide additional information on issues relating to coins and medal produced in China. But this is not an optimal or much desired situation.
I stated less information in China medal BUT NOT MCC. Significant information available for MCC in English especially panda. Pricepedia also a good guide for MCC price and development BUT It does not inclusive all private deals which is the same case for other than china coins. (please correct me if I am wrong because I am not super knowledgeable of other than china coins).
I agree with you that there may be more resource material written in Mandarin but that information is not directly available to non-Mandarin speakers/readers. This places them at a competitive disadvantage which in the longterm may have negative consequences on the trade in coins and medals. Although there may be an increasing domestic market for coins and medals, ignoring the needs of the large collector base outside China will be analogous to shooting yourself in the foot! Vibrant businesses and economies excel when they are able to pull in trade funds from outside their geographical regions. So a booming international trade in coins and medals adds to China's bottom line.
In the same token the seller or distributor who is able to provide his clients with adequate information on coins and medals including direct translations of documents written in Mandarin, is likely to do much better compared to others who hoard the information or do not understand that modern business success depends a lot on providing clients with extensive information. Gone are the days of paternalistic, patrichial, "mother knows best" business practices!
The bottom line is that people now have an extensive array of choices available to them. Even if Chinese mints have enjoyed success in certain aspects of the trade other country mints are also doing very well and taking market share (e.g. lunar coins and medals). Most of these non-Chinese mints provide extensive and accurate information on their products including mintage and descriptives of artwork and inspiration.
I has mentioned earlier which mints do not official announce the actual mintage for decades. Will we change their ways of doing things in short term which is clear.
Seller or distributor to translate huge information from Mandarin articles to English is a good ideas. However, it is additional cost to them. How many will do it? How capable for them to do it? How accurate of the information? Any bias and personal conflict ?
Many MCC distributors do use bi-lingual in newly launch MCC. However, it is not all of them. The information even is very basis and just direct translation from announcement of the mints. NOT many even translate some important articles of china coin experts from Mandarin to English. WHY???? My guess is it is additional costs and this type of value added services are easily copying by others. Personally I do provide additional information to customers individually BUT I did inform them it cannot be 100 accurate since I am translating and express my own view which can be bias. I likely to do some translation and add information to my webpage due to personal hobby. NOT many pure seller would like to spent time to do it for various reasons.
I hope my small step will change the china market BUT I do not give a big hope on it at all. It is not likely to change the way mints operating. I also do not view that my small step will lead customer to pay me more and purchase same item from me which is available cheaper. However, I believe some will repeat buying due to additional effort by me. However, many webpage of MCC selling do not provide those article translation and so on till now. MCC and medal businesses exist for decades as we known. WHY not many do it? Or even we can use our finger to count the number of sellers do this in their webpage publicly and not privately. Bias and conflict of interest is another crucial factor to seller to consider publish those information in public in their webpage. In additional, they can say the medal planned mintage is "xxx" as per coa BUT actual mintage is "xxx". after years the mints might mints the balance which is not under he/she control and he/she might lapse to update it. Some customers will understood BUT not all especially new customers and collectors.
