Chinese lunar coins
Encyclopedia
In 1979, China
began minting commorative modern coins. In 1981, China began minting coins to commemorate the Chinese New Year
. Typically the obverse features a historical building while the reverse features the lunar animal reproduced from historical Chinese drawings or paintings.
Here is a chart showing date, mintage, and sizes of all Chinese lunar coins minted since 1982.
From 1981 to 1987 the obverse and reverse
of the 8 g gold coin were the same as that of the 15 g silver coin. The exception being in 1985 when the reverse differed. 1987 seems to be special: (1) both the 5 oz. silver lunar coin and the 5 oz. silver panda coin were debuted, (2) the 5 oz. silver lunar coin was the first of the series to be over 99% pure silver, and (3) the 5 oz. silver coin had a face value of 50 yuan even though it contained over 10 times as much silver as the 15 g silver coin which had a face value of 10 yuan.
In 1988 the first platinum lunar coin was introduced and the number of different lunar coins exploded when the Shanghai Mint began minting a different set of lunar coins. In total there were 4 different designs: the 5oz coins featured triple dragons and the 15 g and 8 g coins each featured a different dragon; the Shanghai Mint coins featured double dragon reverses.
All coins minted by the Shenyang
mint unless noted with an "SH" which indicates that it was minted by the Shanghai
mint. The size, mintage, and face values are listed to illustrate the numerous changing standards in the first lunar series.
coin.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
began minting commorative modern coins. In 1981, China began minting coins to commemorate the Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
. Typically the obverse features a historical building while the reverse features the lunar animal reproduced from historical Chinese drawings or paintings.
Here is a chart showing date, mintage, and sizes of all Chinese lunar coins minted since 1982.
1981–1992 (1st Lunar Series)
The size, mintage, metal content, and even face value changed throughout the first series. This is a reflection of China's gradual adoption of the ounce over the metric gram in line with international bullion standards and China's improving economic conditions and technological advances.From 1981 to 1987 the obverse and reverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
of the 8 g gold coin were the same as that of the 15 g silver coin. The exception being in 1985 when the reverse differed. 1987 seems to be special: (1) both the 5 oz. silver lunar coin and the 5 oz. silver panda coin were debuted, (2) the 5 oz. silver lunar coin was the first of the series to be over 99% pure silver, and (3) the 5 oz. silver coin had a face value of 50 yuan even though it contained over 10 times as much silver as the 15 g silver coin which had a face value of 10 yuan.
In 1988 the first platinum lunar coin was introduced and the number of different lunar coins exploded when the Shanghai Mint began minting a different set of lunar coins. In total there were 4 different designs: the 5oz coins featured triple dragons and the 15 g and 8 g coins each featured a different dragon; the Shanghai Mint coins featured double dragon reverses.
All coins minted by the Shenyang
Shenyang
Shenyang , or Mukden , is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing or Fengtianfu...
mint unless noted with an "SH" which indicates that it was minted by the Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
mint. The size, mintage, and face values are listed to illustrate the numerous changing standards in the first lunar series.
| Year | |Silver Coins (mintage) | |Platinum Coins (mintage) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | rooster Rooster A rooster, also known as a cockerel, cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels... |
15 g 33 mm 30CNY Renminbi The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC... (10000) |
8 g 23 mm 250CNY (5000) | |
| 1982 | dog Dog The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in... |
15 g 33 mm 20 CNY (15000) | 8 g 23 mm 200 CNY (5000) | |
| 1983 | pig Pig A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives... |
15 g 33 mm 10 CNY (10000) | 8 g 23 mm 150 CNY (5000) | |
| 1984 | rat Rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus... |
15 g 33 mm 10 CNY (10000) | 8 g 23 mm 150 CNY (5000) | |
| 1985 | ox Ox An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable... |
15 g 33 mm 10 CNY (10000) | 8 g 23 mm 150 CNY (5000) | |
| 1986 | tiger Tiger The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts... |
15 g 33 mm 10 CNY (15000) | 8 g 23 mm 150 CNY (5000) | |
| 1987 | rabbit Rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world... |
15 g 33 mm 10CNY (15000) 5 oz. 70 mm 50CNY (4000) |
8 g 23 mm 150CNY (5000) | |
| 1988 | dragon Dragon A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern... |
15g 33mm 10CNY (15000) 1oz 32mm 10CNY SH (20000) 5oz 70mm 50CNY (5000) 12oz 80mm 100CNY SH (3000) |
8g 23mm 150CNY (7500) 1oz 32mm 100CNY SH (3000) 5oz 60mm 500CNY (3000) 12oz 1000CNY SH (500) |
1oz 32mm 100CNY SH (2000) |
| 1989 | snake Snake Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales... |
15g 33mm 10CNY (15000) 1oz 32mm 10CNY SH (6000) 5oz 70mm 50CNY (1000) 12oz 80mm 100CNY SH (400) |
8g 23mm 150CNY (7500) 1oz 32mm 100CNY SH (3000) 5oz 60mm 500CNY (500) 12oz 70mm 1000CNY SH (200) |
1oz 32mm 100CNY SH (1000) |
| 1990 | horse Horse The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today... |
15g 33mm 10CNY (15000) 1oz 32mm 10CNY SH (12000) 5oz 70mm 50CNY (2000) 12oz 80mm 100CNY SH (1000) |
8g 23mm 150CNY (7500) 1oz 32mm 100CNY SH (6000) 5oz 60mm 500CNY (500) 12oz 70mm 1000CNY SH (200?) |
1oz 32mm 100CNY SH (2000) |
| 1991 | goat Goat The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of... |
15g 33mm 10CNY (15000) 1oz 32mm 10CNY SH (8100) 5oz 70mm 50CNY (2000) 12oz 80mm 100CNY SH (1000) |
8g 23mm 150CNY (7500) 1oz 32mm 100CNY SH (1900) 5oz 60mm 500CNY (400) 12oz 70mm 1000CNY SH (200) |
1oz 32mm 100CNY SH (500) |
| 1992 | monkey Monkey A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys... |
15g 33mm 10CNY (10000) 1oz 32mm 10CNY SH (8100) 5oz 70mm 50CNY (1000) 12oz 80mm 100CNY SH (500) |
8g 23mm 150CNY (5000) 1oz 32mm 100CNY SH (1900) 5oz 60mm 500CNY (99) 12oz 70mm 1000CNY SH (99) |
1oz 32mm 100CNY SH (300) |
The 2nd Series 1988–1999 1 oz Silver Piedfort
These were minted as 1oz silver but were 32mm in diameter instead of standard 40mm. This increased the thickness in the style of a piedfortPiedfort
A piedfort or piedforte , is a coin often exactly twice its normal weight and thickness. The name derives from a French word meaning "heavy foot"...
coin.
- 1988 Dragon Mintage: 20000
- 1989 Snake
- 1990 Horse
- 1991 Goat
- 1992 Monkey
- 1993 Rooster Mintage: 9000
- 1994 Dog
- 1995 Pig
- 1996 Rat
- 1997 Ox Mintage: 8000
- 1998 Tiger Mintage: 8000
- 1999 Rabbit
The 3rd Series 1997–2008 1 oz Silver
- 1997 Ox
- 1998 Tiger
- 1999 Rabbit
- 2000 Dragon
- 2001 Snake
- 2002 Horse
- 2003 Goat
- 2004 Monkey
- 2005 Rooster
- 2006 Dog
- 2007 Pig
- 2008 Rat
The 1st Scallop Series 1993–2004⅔ oz Silver
Mintage: 6800 each- 1993 Rooster
- 1994 Dog
- 1995 Pig
- 1996 Rat
- 1997 Ox
- 1998 Tiger
- 1999 Rabbit
- 2000 Dragon
- 2001 Snake
- 2002 Horse
- 2003 Goat
- 2004 Monkey
The 1st Scallop Series 1993–2004 ½ oz Gold
Mintage: 2300 each- 1993 Rooster
- 1994 Dog
- 1995 Pig
- 1996 Rat
- 1997 Ox
- 1998 Tiger
- 1999 Rabbit
- 2000 Dragon
- 2001 Snake
- 2002 Horse
- 2003 Goat
- 2004 Monkey
The 2nd Scallop Series 2005–2017 1 oz Silver
Mintage: 60000 each- 2005 Rooster
- 2006 Dog
- 2007 Pig
- 2008 Rat
- 2009 Ox
- 2010 Tiger
- 2011 Rabbit
- 2012 Dragon
- 2013 Snake
- 2014 Horse
- 2015 Goat
- 2017 Monkey
The 2nd Scallop Series 2005–2017 ½ oz Gold
Mintage: 8000 each- 2005 Rooster
- 2006 Dog
- 2007 Pig
- 2008 Rat
- 2009 Ox
- 2010 Tiger
- 2011 Rabbit
- 2012 Dragon
- 2013 Snake
- 2014 Horse
- 2015 Goat
- 2017 Monkey
The 1st Fan Series 2000–2011 1 oz Silver
Mintage: 66000 each- 2000 Dragon
- 2001 Snake
- 2002 Horse
- 2003 Goat
- 2004 Monkey
- 2005 Rooster
- 2006 Dog
- 2007 Pig
- 2008 Rat
- 2009 Ox
- 2010 Tiger
- 2011 Rabbit
The 1st Fan Series 2000–2011 ½ oz Gold
Mintage: 6600 each- 2000 Dragon
- 2001 Snake
- 2002 Horse
- 2003 Goat
- 2004 Monkey
- 2005 Rooster
- 2006 Dog
- 2007 Pig
- 2008 Rat
- 2009 Ox
- 2010 Tiger
- 2011 Rabbit