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Has the change in weight decreased your interest in Silver Pandas?
FellintoOblivion
Posts: 280 ✭✭✭
Starting in 2016 the metal content of Silver Pandas dropped from 1 oz. to .9645 oz.
Has the change in weight decreased your interest in Silver Pandas?
This is a private poll: no-one will see what you voted for.
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I am indifferent to Silver Pandas (and will not vote), but I understand what the Chinese are attempting to do.
As someone who doesn't, what is it they're trying to do?
I buy various silver World bullion coins for a few local coin clubs. I would regularly buy the 1 oz. Panda coins for clubs, even though they were always a few dollars more than other options because people seemed to really like them.
Since the change to 30g I have bought zero Pandas.
Michael Kittle Rare Coins --- 1908-S Indian Head Cent Grading Set --- No. 1 1909 Mint Set --- Kittlecoins on Facebook --- Long Beach Table 448
Chinese feel that Troy weights are a relic of the Middle Ages, no longer comprehensible or convenient in a world that by and large uses the metric system.
Instead of the oddball 31.1 grams Troy ounce weight, they have decided to go to a coin containing 30 grams of pure silver as their new standard. They figure it might take twenty or thirty years but that a lot of people will come around and abandon the old Troy weights.
30 grams divided by 31.101 grams equals 0.964599 Troy ounce
Personally, I don't give a hoo-hah. I will eat a 300 gram steak as easily as a ten ounce (avoirdupois) steak.
I also do think that 25 grams or 50 grams of something works better mathematically in my head, but that is a relic of still another system and those two sizes look a lot different from the present Troy ounce.
If you are young, you might try to think more in gram weights.
And, for the record, I will easily eat a ten ounce (Troy) steak.
So long as you understand what you are buying/consuming and how much you are paying, you should be able to operate under any weight standard successfully.
I have never bought a Silver Panda but at least I did learn something new today.
Collectible Pandas don't trade for bullion value so the change doesn't matter to me. For example, it doesn't matter to me if all my coins from different countries have the same silver content or not.
Hi, if i'm correct the content already dropped in 2015? See attached pics ... the Chinese dealer was very quick to inform me of the weight of the 2015 Panda ...
To me it's all abouth the coin and not so much about the difference in weight.
2015 was the last year the coin was still 1 oz. despite not having the imprint according to all the websites I have checked.
@FellintoOblivion said:
2015 was the last year the coin was still 1 oz. despite not having the imprint according to all the websites I have checked.
To be honest, i did not weigh the coins and you might be correct. I will weigh the two coins at a later stage and give feedback if you are interested.
Thank you for posting the interesting topic ...
I think it is a way of getting more money per ounce of minted silver and for them to squeeze an extra 3.5% profit.
Well, just Love coins, period.
It doesn't bother me.
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It's interesting that there's no weight or content mentioned, e.g. "30g Ag .999". Bullion coins are part bullion and part coin. Having no weight seems to tip it in the coin direction a bit more.
I had no idea they had done this. China's attitude seems to be "pound sand, we do what we want". But no. I already had very, very low interest in gold and silver pandas. Like I might buy them at a deep discount. But now that they are officially under weight I wouldn't own one for free, and I mean that literally.
FWIW: My dealer happened to have a couple of "sheets"? of the newest silver pandas today. They say "30 grams" on them.
--Severian the Lame
There's nothing sacrosanct or inviolate about Troy weights.
If you can buy the Pandas right, and the Chinese make you mad, buy the coins and throw the coins in the melting pot.
But there are lots of different weight standards and the point is to understand them and to adjust any price offers accordingly.
I never bought a panda. There are WAY oo many fakes out there, just like everything else thanks to the Chinese!
Good to know. I was referring to the photos posted by @Manfred1.
I suppose you could say the change has decreased my interest by about five percent, making my current interest in silver Pandas somewhere around negative five percent now.
Ultimately bullion is bullion and can be bought for whatever % of melt as long as one knows the content.
I'm still unwinding from my 'collectible bullion' phase. I wanted to collect coins, and the dragon in me wanted to hoard bullion, so for awhile it was fun buying things like Pandas and their ilk. However, after awhile I realized how much junk I had and honestly I'm not a fan of supporting various governments via their mint products. Plus, if it had to be slabbed or sit in 'special packaging' to give it the extra value, then by definition it wasn't really a bullion play anymore.
So I happily traded a bunch of the Chinese Unicorns in on some bigger ticket numismatic coins I might never have gotten...sadly missed their peak as the stuff was in an SDB half a world away, but still managed some decent appreciation and now have gotten rid of almost all the rest like Pandas, Lunars, IOM cats etc.
So far my Britannias and a few Aussies have stuck around but almost everything else has been on the block to fund 'real coins' or 'real bullion'. Nothing wrong with the 'pretty bullion' as I call it, it just that for my own tendencies I want it a clearer line.
Anyway, back to the 30 gram Panda...that was actually one of the impetuses for me to realize how complicated my hoarding/stacking was getting. Give me a straight up stack of silver Eagles, standard weight name brand bars (not buying new, just not dumping those), and 90%. No more odd weights (waves at the Panda), slabbed, or other 'interesting' bullion. Too many interesting numismatic things out there
Now, I did just send some money to the US mint (!) for something and I might have a couple of those Queen's Beast coins...so my plan is not perfect, but oh well. Such is life.
The ONLY silver I have left is American Eagles and US 90%
Although I don't plan to add any silver, the change in weight would make them completely of no interest.
I thought I'd show off my newp from today and this thread seems appropriate...
I like the design this year and in a weird way, I like the even 30 gram weight.. Maybe I'm just weird.
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Very nice, I have a raw version and while I also don't necessarily mind the weight being a nice round figure I don't like that it's not the same weight as everything else I'm collecting.
I can understand that. In terms of troy ounces accumulated, it can make the numbers funny. I don't mind as I look at this as more of collectible coin than bullion.
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