Chinese lunar coins
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In 1979, China began minting commemorative 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.
[edit] 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 of the 8g gold coin were the same as that of the 15g silver coin. The exception being in 1985 when the reverse differed. 1987 seems to be special: (1) both the 5oz silver lunar coin and the 5oz silver panda coin were debuted, (2) the 5oz silver lunar coin was the first of the series to be 99+% pure silver, and (3) the 5oz silver coin had a face value of 50 yuan even though it contained over 10 times as much silver as the 15g 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 15g and 8g 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.
| Year | Animal | Silver Coins (mintage) | Gold Coins (mintage) | Platinum Coins (mintage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | rooster | 15g 33mm 30CNY (10000) | 8g 23mm 250CNY (5000) | |
| 1982 | dog | 15g 33mm 20CNY (15000) | 8g 23mm 200CNY (5000) | |
| 1983 | pig | 15g 33mm 10CNY (10000) | 8g 23mm 150CNY (5000) | |
| 1984 | rat | 15g 33mm 10CNY (10000) | 8g 23mm 150CNY (5000) | |
| 1985 | ox | 15g 33mm 10CNY (10000) | 8g 23mm 150CNY (5000) | |
| 1986 | tiger | 15g 33mm 10CNY (15000) | 8g 23mm 150CNY (5000) | |
| 1987 | rabbit | 15g 33mm 10CNY (15000) 5oz 70mm 50CNY (4000) |
8g 23mm 150CNY (5000) | |
| 1988 | dragon | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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) |
Main article: 1st Lunar Series
[edit] The 2nd Series 1988 - 1999 1 oz Silver Piedfort
These were minted as 1oz silver but were 32mm in diameter which made them relatively thicker that standard 40mm coins.
- 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
Main article: 2nd Lunar Series
[edit] 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
Main article: 3rd Lunar Series
[edit] The 1st Scallop Series 1993 - 2004 2/3 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
Main article: 1st Silver Lunar Scallop Series
[edit] The 1st Scallop Series 1993 - 2004 1/2 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
Main article: 1st Gold Lunar Scallop Series
[edit] The 2nd Scallop Series 2005 - 2017 2/3 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
Main article: 2nd Silver Lunar Scallop Series
[edit] The 2nd Scallop Series 2005 - 2017 1/2 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
Main article: 2nd Gold Lunar Scallop Series
[edit] 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
Main article: Lunar Fan Series
[edit] The 1st Fan Series 2000 - 2011 1/2 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
Main article: Lunar Fan Series
