Topic: Peoples Repulic of China Fen coins

[aragog]

For the Fen coins, there really are only 3 major varieties (Mint) for the first series.

Some don't consider the 1956 5 Fen big/small star a variety but that is different matter.

I do not know there is varieties found for 1976 1 Fen.

Yes I counted all varieties from the site you posted (btw, the best and most informative article I have ever found, so I spent whole day yesterday trying to read and understand translated version. And studied all coins I have and it is really easy to distinquish all three varieties.

In price list for fen coins on coin001.com there is two lines for 1 fen 1976 and different letters than for mint varieties mentioned.

[low]

Now I remembered there is an article about the 1976 1 fen you mentioned.

I will find and post the link here.

[low]

http://s7.sinaimg.cn/middle/757a6f7fhb30434037926&690

The coin in the right is called "月牙版" (moon shape) as shown in the red circle. It is not considered a variety by China collector but 趣味币 (interesting coin).

1976 1 Fen mint roll is seldom seen and as such, a scarce coin in high grade.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_757a6f7f0100v6iv.html

[aragog]

http://s7.sinaimg.cn/middle/757a6f7fhb30434037926&690

The coin in the right is called "月牙版" (moon shape) as shown in the red circle. It is not considered a variety by China collector but 趣味币 (interesting coin).

1976 1 Fen mint roll is seldom seen and as such, a scarce coin in high grade.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_757a6f7f0100v6iv.html

low, that is the lot of info I was seeking for quite a long. Many thanks for this and other links, Now I understand fen coins more. And some prices for sets now make more sense for me.
Great work!!!!!!!

[aragog]

http://s7.sinaimg.cn/middle/757a6f7fhb30434037926&690

The coin in the right is called "月牙版" (moon shape) as shown in the red circle. It is not considered a variety by China collector but 趣味币 (interesting coin).

1976 1 Fen mint roll is seldom seen and as such, a scarce coin in high grade.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_757a6f7f0100v6iv.html

This 1976 1 fen coin is interesting indeed. But it cannot be considered a variety, it seems to be a nice form of a crescent die damage. And according to the prices it is not uncommon in PRC, but to get it in europe might be a challange. I like coins with die breaks and got two (thanks poconopenn)5 fen unc coins with a small die breaks.

[poconopenn]

The latest information: 1956 5 fen has three versions.

Large stars, small date
Small stars, small date
Small stars, large date

The attached pictures were taken from the following link:

http://www.coin001.com/read.php?tid=9710&page=1

[aragog]

yes, it was obvious from the blog, shared by low, though it did not state it, but from the pics I saw different date relief depth, to say it correctly. And two variants seem to be quite common as from two small star circulation coins I have, one is small date and second large date. In large date the stars are a little larger too and there are some other differences as well

[darge]

Hello I am new to this forum so I apologize if responding on quite an old thread is not the done thing.

I have an option to buy 3 1983 proof fen coins and I was interested to see poconopenn's comment that these are rare. These are 1, 2 and 5 fen proof coins.What I would love to know is an idea of the value of these coins so I can decide whether to buy or not.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, darge.

[aragog]

poconopenn will write you the market price, As for me, from 1983 only 5 fen PROOF is the different Mint variant than general coins and will be of higher value. Anyway, all other are also valued more then unc coins. I personally would pay for three coins about   max 120-140 $ (about 80-100 $ for 5 fen only). Half of that price would be a bargain.

[darge]

Thank you Aragog that is exactly what I needed, I would have paid too much.

I also see that poconopenn had already supplied value estimates earlier in the thread.

Thanks very much to both of you. Regards, bruce.

[aragog]

I have just checked NGC and PCGS databases and now no wonder why the prices for high grade fen coins went down so much.
Still, I consider those a jewelry of MCC colection, and was unfortunatelly second high bidder for a nice 1 fens 1961 and a 2 fen 1963. I was a little suspicious as those were sold in a mix with general fens, so did not go higher with offers. But in 2012 there were lots of new coins graded, some quite high, even for a rare 1961 year after  poor years and the famine in 1959-1960.
Now coins that went for $5000 and more are not unique in high grades and it will take years and years to get those prices again.
"Five Kings" coins, on the other side, are quite hard to get and are stable in their price. I still miss 3 of them, but 100 of others are already in my small collection.
I wanted to ask if anybody could confirm that fen coins are already history and are not minted anymore?

I met  chinese girl on one of the seminars, I attended recently, and tried to get her help to purchase the new book on circulation coins. She was really surprised that there are coins still in circulation in PRC and said that she has not seen any for long time :-))

[99mild]

Hi everyone:

New, clueless guy here. I've read all your posts and think I need to get in on them. I'm not a collector or investor, but recently inherited one of those "Coin Sets of All Nations" issued by the Franklin Mint in the early 1980s. I don't think they are "proofs" (not entirely sure what a proof is, but I don't think these qualify), but I do know that they are uncirculated and sealed in a blister pack. I know very little about coins, but my research is leading me to believe my set from China may have a winner in it; it contains a 1981 5 Fen coin. I've seen some mention of it on other boards.

Here is the complete list of all the coins in my set:

1981 5 Fen
1982 2 Fen
1982 1 Fen
1981 5 Jiao
1981 5 Jiao
1981 1 Jiao
1981 1 Yuan

Can anyone tell me a little about what I have? Am I sitting on some real value? Again, I'm not a dealer or investor, so I'm just looking to sell them.

Also, is eBay my best bet for selling them? I think I've seen auctions where sets like mine (that include the 1981 5 fen) have sold for $750 - $1200. Are my eyes deceiving me?

I've read that most buyers are in China, so I can't easily post an auction in Chinese in order to appeal to those who don't read English. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

[poconopenn]

I wanted to ask if anybody could confirm that fen coins are already history and are not minted anymore?

Fen coins are no longer minted after 2011. However, they are still in circulation.

[poconopenn]

Hi everyone:

New, clueless guy here. I've read all your posts and think I need to get in on them. I'm not a collector or investor, but recently inherited one of those "Coin Sets of All Nations" issued by the Franklin Mint in the early 1980s. I don't think they are "proofs" (not entirely sure what a proof is, but I don't think these qualify), but I do know that they are uncirculated and sealed in a blister pack. I know very little about coins, but my research is leading me to believe my set from China may have a winner in it; it contains a 1981 5 Fen coin. I've seen some mention of it on other boards.

Here is the complete list of all the coins in my set:

1981 5 Fen
1982 2 Fen
1982 1 Fen
1981 5 Jiao
1981 5 Jiao
1981 1 Jiao
1981 1 Yuan

Can anyone tell me a little about what I have? Am I sitting on some real value? Again, I'm not a dealer or investor, so I'm just looking to sell them.

Also, is eBay my best bet for selling them? I think I've seen auctions where sets like mine (that include the 1981 5 fen) have sold for $750 - $1200. Are my eyes deceiving me?

I've read that most buyers are in China, so I can't easily post an auction in Chinese in order to appeal to those who don't read English. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum.

Please post picture. The price $750-$1,200 is for proof set. 1981 5 fen is a key date. The value of this coin will be about $250-$400, depending on the condition.

[PCGS-ASIA]

The latest information: 1956 5 fen has three versions.

Large stars, small date
Small stars, small date
Small stars, large date

The attached pictures were taken from the following link:

http://www.coin001.com/read.php?tid=9710&page=1

Poconopenn and others:

I reviewed the original link (briefly)....and didn't see a reference.

Does anyone know if these were produced at different mints?

If so, which is which?

TIA.