Martin S. Collection of China Silver Panda 1oz and 30 grams MS
1999

Owner Comments:

1999 Silver Panda 1oz LARGE DATE SERIF 1 MS69

Shenzen Guobao Mint

The 1999 panda coins were struck in both proof and BU quality. The proof coin did NOT include a “P” mark; however, the proof panda design differed slightly from the BU panda design and it was also colorized so it is easy to know which one is the proof version. This was the last year that the panda coin was struck in proof quality and the last year that it was colorized. The BU coin had 3 varieties – small date with “serif” 1 and large dates having a “plain” 1 or a “serif” 1. The large date “plain” 1 was issued from the Shenyang mint, the large date “serif” 1 from the Shenzhen Guobao mint and the small date “serif” 1 from the Shanghai mint.

Mintage of BU coins is unknown. The Proof mintage is 100,000. This large date with the “serif 1" from the Shenzhen Guobao mint is the rarest of the varieties by far and is considered to be one of the "big 3" (together with the 1995 micro date and the 2000 mirrored panda) or the "big 4" (if one includes also the rare 2001 small D Panda).