Spurious 1987 1/4 oz. Panda Commemoratives?

[PandaCollector]

These two items (150457138337 and 150457111106) are the second and third reported 1/4 oz Sino-Japanese Friendship medals I have ever seen. The first time I came across one was item #200481989085 which ended on June 13. All three sellers have zero feedback.  All three sellers are supposedly located in the USA but when I sent a question about the weight of #200481989085 to seller aleexandera the response came from China. The seller assured me the medal had been weighed and is the stated weight.

A further concern is that items 150457111106 and 200481989085 use the exact same photo although the sellers have different accounts. I also note differences between the first numeral "1/4" in the photos of 200481989085 and 150457111106 and it seems to me that the lettering on the date side of 200481989085 and 150457111106 is not as clean as what I see on a known genuine medal of this year.

Finally, as far as I know 1987 Sino-Japanese Friendship medals were only struck in 1/20 oz. 1 oz. and 5 oz. gold sizes. I am extremely suspicious of these — either they are a never-reported size of medal or... Anyone else have some input?

Peter Anthony
www.Pandacollector.com

[BobW]

Peter,

Congratulations on the publication of your new book on Panda coins. Anyone who collects Pandas will find it full of valuable information which is sure to enhance his/her collecting enjoyment. The full color plates are second to none. The cost is very reasonable and I highly recommend it to everyone who has an interest in Panda coins.

BobW

[PandaCollector]

Bob,
Thanks very, very much for the kind words. Thanks too for noticing the photos. I've photographed jewelry and other reflective items for catalogs in the past, but it amazed me how many different lighting setups the Pandas needed. It seemed like each one required moving around the lights and adjusting the reflectors and gobos to bring out the design details. These coins really have character.
Best wishes,
Peter Anthony
www.pandacollector.com

[KonaJim]

Jay tipped me off to the book.  I also would like to say great job!  Now, how long do we have to wait for a book on all the other fine modern chinese coins, like the lunar series, and other rarities?  I don't think anyone could do it better.

[PandaCollector]

KonaJim,
Thanks for the vote of confidence but I will be busy studying Pandas for a while to come. No question there is room for more publications in this area of numismatics, though.
Best,
Peter Anthony
www.pandacollector.com

[PandaCollector]

These 1987 Panda 1/4 oz. "gold" Sino-Japan Friendship medals are coming out of the woodwork on eBay. Here are three more: Items nos. 150457536674 , 170502269104 and 170502524829. Once again all the sellers have zero feedback. Please see my previous comments for the concerns I have about these medals. At the very least this is a previously undocumented size of Sino-Japanese Friendship medal.

I have posted photos of the three known genuine sizes of the 1987 Sino-Japanese Friendship gold medals at http://www.pandacollector.com/rogue.html.

Best wishes,
Peter Anthony
www.pandacollector.com

[poconopenn]

Peter,
  
Congratulations for you excellent book. It takes extraordinary efforts and will be very valuable to all panda collectors.
 
Seller “aleexandera”:
 
Completed listings: 0.25 oz gold panda, Sino-Japanese

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200481989085&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm570%26_nkw%3D200481989085%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1,  Final value: $364.89

http://cgi.ebay.com/Panda-0-25-Oz-solid-Gold-Proof-coin-Sino-Japanese-/200484485276?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eadce789c,  Final value $340

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200484640460&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&autorefresh=true,  Did not sell.

Active listings:  0.25 oz gold panda, Sino-Japanese

http://cgi.ebay.com/Panda-0-25-Oz-solid-Gold-Proof-coin-Sino-Japanese-/200485104681?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eadd7ec29

http://cgi.ebay.com/Panda-0-25-Oz-solid-Gold-Proof-coin-Sino-Japanese-/200485595756?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eaddf6a6c

1988 5 oz silver panda

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200485231258

All coins listed by this seller are fake. IMO, the counterfeiter of this 0.25 oz gold coin made the same mistake as they made fake 1986 and 1988 1 oz silver pandas four years ago. China Mint did not issue those coins. Pictures of fake 1987 Sino-Japanese 0.25 oz gold coin and 1988 5 oz silver panda posted by this seller are attached for future reference.

Seller "satiaenes"   Feedback Score Of 0

Posted identical pictures of 0.25 oz gold panda, Sino-Japanese as Seller “aleexandera”  The listings given below are still active.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150457111106&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150457402652&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150457823736&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[poconopenn]

Seller “tuibrielley” ( Feedback Score Of 0 )

The listings below are still active with pictures of 0.25 oz Sino-Japanese gold panda differ from “satiaenes” and “aleexandera”. I have made some adjustment of the color of the obverse of this coin to show the real surface of this coin. It is a gold plated copper coin. Pictures of this fake coin are given below for future reference.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Proof-1-4th-Oz-solid-Gold-coin-Sino-Japanese-Friendship-/150457138337?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2307f1bca1

http://cgi.ebay.com/Proof-1-4th-Oz-solid-Gold-coin-Sino-Japanese-Friendship-/150457536674?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2307f7d0a2

http://cgi.ebay.com/Proof-1-4th-Oz-solid-Gold-coin-Sino-Japanese-Friendship-/150457917593?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2307fda099

The same seller lists an 1987 5 oz silver panda.  It is a fake too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150457555979&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Here is the rarest fake panda, a 2008 silver panda with a 2000 panda obv. and Beijing 2008 Olympic rev.

http://cgi.ebay.com/AAA-2008-Chinese-1oz-Panda-Collection-/200485006105?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eadd66b19

99 fake coins listed by this seller "gjjfg889". Many of them have mismatched rev. and obv.

[poconopenn]

All completed and incompleted items of 1987 Sino-Japanese 0.25 oz gold panda listed by seller “aleexandera” and seller "satiaenes" were removed by eBay. Three items from seller “tuibrielley” are still active.