Chinese Mint

Chinese Mint

The Chinese Mint creates circulation coins, bullion coins, paper currency, and medals for the People’s Bank of China. In terms of bullion coinage, the Chinese Panda Series is among the most well-known and popular annual releases on the market. This series is known for its designs, as well as its complex history over the years, similar to the mint that makes them. Learn more about the Chinese Mint, right here at BGASC.

Chinese Mint History

During the 9th century, China became the first nation to issue paper currency. That being said, the modern history of the Chinese Mint is relatively recent. The Chinese Mint was introduced in 1896, just three years before the Perth Mint.

The Chinese Mint, originally known as the Centralized Mint, was created during the Qing Dynasty. This was followed by the establishment of the Duzhibu Printing Bureau in 1908. This was then followed by the Shangjing Mint founded by China’s first communist leader, Mao Tse Tung. These facilities eventually all merged to create the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, otherwise known as the Chinese Mint.

The Chinese Mint is overseen by the People’s Bank of China and thus under the control of the government of the People’s Republic of China. With the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese government began spreading into several different branches.

Currently, the Chinese Mint now has facilities in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Shenzhen.

Chinese Panda Coins

In terms of bullion coinage from the Chinese Mint, by far the most popular and well-known product is the Chinese Panda Series of coinage. The series debuted as the Chinese Gold Panda in 1982, with Chinese Silver Pandas debuting the following year.

Gold Panda’s have been released annually since their debut. However, silver coins were issued annually from 1983 to 1985 as proof strikes. They made a 1-year return in 1987, and then have been released every year since 1989. From 1983 to 1985 these coins were made from .900 silver, since 1987 they’ve been made with .999 silver.

The series gets more interesting as gold coins list the panda imagery as the reverse design, whereas the panda designs are seen as the obverse for the silver coins. The panda imagery has changed every year, except for 2001 and 2002.

The obverse for the gold coins, and the reverse for the silver, has always been the Temple of Heaven. The year of issue is seen at the bottom while the Chinese inscriptions read “The People’s Republic of China” is seen at the top.

In 2001, gold pandas underwent a denomination change. Furthermore, both coins underwent a unique change in 2016 as the traditional Troy oz size was changed to the metric system. 1 oz coins were changed to 30 gram coins, for example.

Gilded and colorized coins are also available in the overall series.

Chinese Mint Questions

For any questions about the Chinese Mint, contact the BGASC customer service team. We can be easily reached via email, through our online chat feature, or by giving us a call at 888-992-4272.