Topic: Chinese Mint Increases Silver Panda Production An Astonishing 1233%

[Panda Express]

http://www.silverdoctors.com/chinese-mint-increases-silver-panda-production-an-astonishing-1233/

The China Mint wants to make the Chinese silver panda as popular as the American silver eagle.   1233% is a huge percentage difference comparing the 2010 and 2012 mintage.  Looks like the Chinese public as well as investors/collectors worldwide are starting to enter the modern Chinese coin market.  This is just the tip of the iceberg so hold on to your modern Chinese pandas and coins with low mintage.  This should drive up the numismatic premiums of the rarer pandas in the not too distant future as the collector base expands.  

[SANDAC]

Ah, this explains this Bloomberg article that China Silver Demand to Climb to Record:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-24/china-silver-demand-to-advance-to-record-on-wealth-protection

[SANDAC]

I'm puzzled by this comment in the Silver Doctors article:
The main reason the mintage of these coins was increased so much starting last year is that it became legal in 2011 for Chinese citizens to own silver coins. This means that a lot of 2011 and 2012-dated coins remain in China.

I know there are threads here talking about legal ownership of gold in China:
http://china-mint.info/forum/index.php?topic=775.msg1900#msg1900
http://china-mint.info/forum/index.php?topic=4021.msg20999#msg20999

But legal silver ownership were never discussed.  My assumption all along was that silver ownership is legal all these years.  Am I wrong?

[Panda Express]

Ah, this explains this Bloomberg article that China Silver Demand to Climb to Record:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-24/china-silver-demand-to-advance-to-record-on-wealth-protection

35% of the world’s silver demand comes from China alone.   The total mining output for 2011 based upon the Silver Institute is a meager 761 million ounces.  That’s a 25 billion dollar market.   If China continues with the voracious appetite for silver demand, China can easily outstrip mining supply in a matter of years.  Something has to give based upon the simple laws of supply and demand.  Ultimately that means higher prices for silver including silver investments such as silver bullion and numismatic Chinese silver coins.

http://www.silverinstitute.org/site/supply-demand/

[flora79]

Do you think it is good time to buy  silver panda coin now? what is your suggestion?

[BronzeEmu]

It is a good time to buy flora, the US Elections in January will cement Fiscal Policy for a few years in regard to QE & the direction of the Fed. Under Obama they continue raising the debt ceiling & although there is no safe haven, precious metals will at least store your buying power & hopefully premium % for MCC.
If Romney wins.. Probably the same. (Unless the US raise interest rates & choose Austerity, like Greece. Doubtful.)
Buy older Panda because of the low mintage.

[BChung]

I'm puzzled by this comment in the Silver Doctors article:
The main reason the mintage of these coins was increased so much starting last year is that it became legal in 2011 for Chinese citizens to own silver coins. This means that a lot of 2011 and 2012-dated coins remain in China.

I know there are threads here talking about legal ownership of gold in China:
http://china-mint.info/forum/index.php?topic=775.msg1900#msg1900
http://china-mint.info/forum/index.php?topic=4021.msg20999#msg20999

But legal silver ownership were never discussed.  My assumption all along was that silver ownership is legal all these years.  Am I wrong?

YOu can own SIlver and Gold in China, since pretty much the early nineties. Its just that there are only so much "government approved" way to deal with them.

[pandamonium]

Will the positives for the MCC market ever slow down?  It appears to be headed totally in our favor.  Here is the argument against MCC even though I am positive MCC.  I have emailed articles to many deep pocket investors on the MCC story.   They point out that the supply should have disappeared years ago.  Look at the number of wealthy Chinese and why they buy spot price bullion instead of high premium MCC.  Why?  The premium could be lost overnight.  In other words, the wealthy predict all precious metals to be priced the same at some point so the wealthy will not pay a high premium.  I understand their points of view but remain positive on MCC.  The super rich that collect bullion at some point will want the world's best bullion or numismatics.  Collectors have tendency to climb the ladder.  So my conclusion, own MCC and bullion...................

[tamo42]

It will never be the case that all wealthy Chinese people buy MCC. Only a small fraction will be interested. But the number that makes up that fraction will continue to grow.

[Panda Express]

I'm puzzled by this comment in the Silver Doctors article:
The main reason the mintage of these coins was increased so much starting last year is that it became legal in 2011 for Chinese citizens to own silver coins. This means that a lot of 2011 and 2012-dated coins remain in China.

I know there are threads here talking about legal ownership of gold in China:
http://china-mint.info/forum/index.php?topic=775.msg1900#msg1900
http://china-mint.info/forum/index.php?topic=4021.msg20999#msg20999

But legal silver ownership were never discussed.  My assumption all along was that silver ownership is legal all these years.  Am I wrong?

“In late 2009, the Chinese started making gold and silver bullion easily accessible to its citizens through introducing physical sales of multiple size bars at its banks and China finally legalized ownership of 99.999% pure silver bullion.”  This is a quote taken from an article by JS Lim entitled The Global Physical Gold and Silver Reserves Race in the New Nuclear Arms Race. 

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/global-physical-gold-silver-reserves-race-new-nuclear-arms-race

IMO, this article probably explains to a large extent why silver panda coins from 2011-2012 have seen a dramatic rise in mintage. Moreover, we will likely see an increase in mintage in the upcoming years with continued demand.  The Chinese government through mainstream advertisement has overtly encouraged silver ownership as part of the overall strategy in hard asset accumulation for its citizens.   In conjunction with local popularity in China having a population over 1.3 billion people, silver panda coins have a worldwide following for collectors and investors alike.

[SANDAC]

Thank you very much for the link.  So as an investment vehicle, silver bullion is not legal until 2009--no silver stackers.  Thus, indirectly, the ownership of silver bullion is not encouraged.  Wow, I need to think about this a bit...  It is big, BIG!

As a side note, now I see why Klause separated out Panda and Lunar series in a different catagories, under the heading of "Silver Bullion" and "Gold Bullion".  They were for foreign consumption as bullion, not intented as domestic collectible, until recently.

Yet another side note, other than Panda/Lunar/god of prosperity/Auspicious matters, there are very few silver coins of 0.999 purity in the low denomination level.  So 0.999 is not for domestic consumption until recently.  Hmmm...

[low]

I wonder if the author got his fact right?

What is the reason for 2001-D panda?

[Panda Express]

I wonder if the author got his fact right?

This might be pure speculation on the part of the author of this article to say that China plans on making the silver panda as popular as the American silver eagle, but can you give a better reason for the dramatic increase in the mintage for the 2011-2012 1 oz. silver pandas? The overt legalization of ownership of investment grade silver .999% in late 2009 considerably corresponds with the enormous rise in mintage.  The legalization of investment grade silver ownership was sited in 2 articles within this thread.   The Chinese silver panda coin has become one of the most popular silver bullion coins for investors to own both domestically in China and around the world so there is clearly a demand for this sought-after silver coin otherwise the China Mint would not be ramping up production in the millions.  At the same token, silver pandas are more affordable and in high demand for the general public as compared to owning gold.

What is the reason for 2001-D panda?

The first numismatic Chinese panda coin I purchased to start my collection was a 2001-D 1 oz. silver panda NGC MS-70.  They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  This was the only panda design that had an eye-catching giant panda adventuring around a bamboo forest.  Additionally I wanted a coin with grade rarity in MS-70.  The “D” stamp on the coin separating domestic and foreign sales was another part of the coin that fascinated me.  So this panda design holds a memorable significance to my collection.  I decided to purchase the 2001-D 500 Yuan gold panda MS-69 to compliment my collection to keep the silver panda company.  This is the reason why I have my favorite panda coin design as my avatar on this forum.

[low]

Panda Express,

It is no secret nor speculation that China plan on making silver panda as popular (if not more popular) as ASE. Of course China want as many of their people as possible to own silver, and what better than silver panda. I will say the exercise actually started in year 2000.

Now the author say "China finally legalized ownership of 99.999% pure silver bullion." and does that actually happens in 2009?

If so, how do one explain the existence of 2001-D panda which were meant for China domestic market? Perhaps the author think the 2001-D Silver 10 Yuan panda is not 99.999% silver bullion?

[Panda Express]

Hello Low,

All 1 oz. silver pandas were .999% purity starting in 1989 until this present year.  While I agree with you that the exercise started as early as 2000 and Chinese citizens were able to buy silver pandas, the official Chinese policy change overtly encouraging citizens to own precious metals for investment did not happen until recently.  Here is a third article referencing the recent policy change.

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Lewis/20120723.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rmobXfLzo4

If you look particularly at the 2001 1 oz. silver panda which is an excellent example of this exercise,  405,000 coins were meant for international export and only 95,000 coins stamped with the “D” were only meant for domestic demand. IMO, the numbers for foreign export and domestic consumption should have been reversed if China really meant for her citizens to own investment grade silver.  IMO, it seems that the Chinese panda coin was primarily meant for international demand.  Now if we look at the 2011-2012 staggering mintage numbers, a greater percentage of these pandas will probably stay domestically in China due to the recent policy change.   Any mintage above 1 million should be considered as investment bullion and to a lesser extent a numismatic collector piece.  This did not happen until 2010 when the 1 oz. silver panda mintage rose to 1.5 million coins.  This is where the primary difference lies – silver panda coin as a collector piece versus investment bullion.