Shanghai 2009 Coin Auction Winter Conference

2008 was a quite a disappointing year for the stock market. Most types of investments finished the year in the red after severe declines. However not all investments were a loss. The one bright spot, as the reporter discovered recently at the “2009 Coin Auction Winter Conference”, was gold and silver coins. After a volatile 2008, the value of some gold and silver coins categorized as old, refined, and rare have remained strong. Certain high-grade products have seen values reach new highs. Compared to other categories of collection investing, the ability of high-grade gold and silver coins for risk protection is apparent.

High Auction Prices for Fine Coins

The "Shanghai 2009 Coin Auction Winter Conference" began precisely at 1:30 in the afternoon of October 10th at the Shanghai Eastern International Auction House. This auction event showcased 186 auction items, including among others gold and silver coins, gold, silver and copper badges, and paper notes, and attracted over 200 avid coin collectors from all over China. Sources say that this auction event also attracted some well-known people from within the coin-collecting industry. Indeed, several of them arrived from Hong Kong upon hearing of the conference.

Compared to the coin auction conference held in June of 2008, this time fine coins continued to dominate the event. These included the 1981 commemorative gold coins replicating the design of a rhinoceros copper figure, an excavated artifact (First Set), the 1993 18 liang (about 900 g) commemorative gold coins of Kuan Yin, and the 1990 20 oz. Dragon Phoenix gold coins.

From the results of the auction, 160 items closed deals among a total of 186. The rate of deal close reached a high of 86.02% and transactions totaled RMB 4,875,526 (over USD 700,000). The closing prices for fine coins were even higher. For example the 1993 Kuan Yin coins reached a high closing price of RMB 825,000 (over USD 120,000) while the 1990 Dragon Phoenix coins achieved a closing price of RMB 500,500 (over USD 73,000).

According to the Vice Secretary of the Chinese Coin Collector’s Association, Mr. Ruiyong Huang, the success of this auction depended on several factors. Foremost is the entrance of a group of knowledgeable young collectors. Furthermore besides coins, the number of deals that closed for badges far exceeded expectations. Worth mentioning is that deal-closing prices for some high-grade coins maintained resilience, demonstrating the mentality that “risk investing trend has passed, yet collection investing is very timely”.

Coin Combination is Key to Collection Investing

The reporter has found that since 2008, the values of calligraphy painting, porcelain and other artworks have followed the financial crisis leading to severe declines. In fact, the market value of coins has also been impacted to varying degrees. For example, after the Beijing Olympics, the value of the first 3 sets of Olympic coins declined steeply, losing over 40% in many cases. It is obvious that such risk is high. Mr. Huang explained that the steep declines are most commonly seen in medium-grade coins, whereas the low-grade coins are cushioned by the price of gold, thereby these have experienced lesser or even zero decline in value. As for high-grade coins, the lack of supply has driven collectors’ ever-strong demand.

Experts advise that coin-collecting as an investment requires thoughtful combination. As well as a variety of hard currencies such as the Panda coins that are similar to gold in quality, also to be considered are high-grade coins that possess obvious artistic characteristics. These include the limited circulation of 200 large standard gold coins, 500 large standard silver coins, 1000 small standard gold coins, and 2000 small standard silver coins. Badges whose material approximates gold yet possess good themes and have limited circulation are relatively safe investments. Examples include the 1979 View of Beijing gold badges, Chinese Zodiac gold coins (8 g) of the lower-price level, and other Kuan Yin gold coins from certain years. Experts also advise that silver and gold coin investments are different from other types of investments in that realizing immediate value is not a strong possibility. Therefore, an appropriate allocation should be made according to one’s own personal assets for long-term investment.

Press Morning Newspaper

Fake Chinese Silver Lunar Ox with only 1% silver

Recently while busy at work, Mr. Tian suddenly received a phone call from a stranger, who wanted to sell him a type of commemorative album that contained commemorative coins of the Chinese Zodiac. The salesman indicated their high collection value and offered to provide “drop-in service”.

Upon seeing this album, Mr. Tian was beside himself and inspected it carefully. The album was packaged in a fancy box. Inside there were 5 silver coin bars commemorating the Year of the Ox, each were beset with a commemorative seal. Every coin and seal were marked as weighing 30 g and a 99.9% silver content. Mr. Tian also noticed that the box contained an inspection sampling document approved by the Province of Guangdong, though this document indicated only the original would be covered.

“The salesman showed me the ticket price for the album which was marked at 5800 Yuan per set.” Finally after some negotiation, the salesman agreed to sell the set at a discounted price of 2000 Yuan.

To ensure peace of mind, Mr. Tian brought the album he purchased to the inspection center at the City of Tangshan’s Quality Inspection Bureau of Gold, Jade and Other Precious Products in order to verify the authenticity of this set of coins. He was shocked by the results. The coins and seals that are individually marked to contain 99.9% silver in fact only contained a little over 1%. The principal materials found were copper, nickel, and zinc. Copper and zinc comprised, on average 40 to 50%, of the materials. Not only this, what was clearly marked as weighing 30 g, the actual weight of the individual coins and seals was only little more than 20 g, almost 10 g of difference.

“Since this is a commemorative product, it must have a trade name. In addition the product must clearly indicate the amount of precious metal contained and the product’s issuance number. Numbers cannot overlap as each is unique and the total corresponds to the total issued. Moreover, every issue has a corresponding certificate of authenticity.” Ms. Xiaoling Zhou from the Quality Inspection Bureau at Tangshan indicated. The album that Mr. Tian purchased had no issuance number and certificate of authenticity. Without the certificate, the inspection document provided can only cover a batch sample but cannot serve as an authenticity certificate for the commemorative album that Mr. Tian had purchased.

Accordingly, the inspection center at Tangshan’s Quality Inspection Bureau of Gold, Jade and Other Precious Products has specifically warned avid collectors about things to look for before purchasing precious metal commemorative coins. Buyers need to understand among other things the total number of issues, specific dimensions, the amount of precious metal content, designs on both sides, the minting facility, and the packaging of each set of coins that are issued by specific governmental organizations. Having this knowledge will facilitate the inspection process when making a purchase. The coin’s actual weight must match with the standard weight. If there is a significant difference, it is safe to assume that the coin is false. Furthermore, it is very important to demand for the certificate of authenticity which is the only piece of document that explicitly states all the official coin data including the issuance number. This certificate should be stored for safekeeping. If there’s doubt over the authenticity of the product, it should be taken into an inspection center for verification as soon as possible.

source: fakecoin.info

The Founding of The Agriculture Bank of China LLC Commemorative Gold & Silver Coins

The Founding of The Agriculture Bank of China LLC Commemorative Gold & Silver Coin Set (2009 panda with added words) will be issued on Janunary 16, 2009 by the People's Bank of China and minted by Shanghai Mint.
1/4oz gold (max. mintage: 100000)
1oz silver (max. mintage: 100000)

A new member to the commemorative panda series.