1995 China 10 Yuan Gold - 2 Questions

I agree about the spotting - but I believe that is a common problem due to the PVC packaging? Which would mean that most of these coins in the OMP would have the same problem? I imagine that some people prefer them in the OMP so that might offset the spotting, especially if this is a "key date"?

I wonder how much of the spotting is on the coin and how much is on the PVC...?

I'm one of those rare ducks that prefers circulated coinage (especially silver) so I don't have much experience with bullion gold other than what I read on-line...

Anyway, a couple more photos... I think these show stronger lettering but also more spotting:

@John1, I think you're right about the large date...

I found a bit more info at NGC that talks about this coin. They agree that this is the key date of the series and that red spots are common.

https://www.NGCcoin.com/price-guide...eseSetID=807

NGC offers a cleaning service (NCS) that can remove the red spots for a small fee (4% of the coin's value). NGC would then grade the coin for an additional fee.

https://www.NGCcoin.com/ncs-conservation

(This is all new to me as I enter the bullion market.)

Unfortunately, NGC only has official images of the large date, but I did find two decent pix on APMEX for comparison:



It looks like the "1" in the large date has a demonstrable serif compared to the "1" in the small date.

I feel like I learned something today...

I know it's a bit late but on the reddish brown spots you are correct indeed that they are probably not pvc residue and some research has concluded that they are a result of tiny amounts of Sulphur and Silver in the Panda

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scien...ck%20process.

Red spots have been a very common phenomenon in gold pandas and certain years more so than others

1988 was a year with a lot of this and because of that I was able to get the following 10 1oz sheet in HK at what was the px of gold at the time even after the auction house fees

https://coins.ha.com/itm/china/chin...065-30210.s#

Interestingly, NGC and PCGS are more than willing to ignore most spots and will still grade a coin that otherwise has zero handling marks at the top MS grades.

I sold this coin several years ago so I forget all the details. But do I remember that this was the original mint packaging. Whether it was PVC I can't say with certainty but I think it was.

But having read what @manosgerms wrote, this doesn't mean the red spots were from the PVC, in fact I'd expect green spots from PVC. So, yeah, metal impurities makes sense to me.

I sold the coin to a dealer who specializes in Chinese coins, he didn't seem to mind the red spots at all. Can't say whether he has the coin conserved or graded, I hope he did, and I hope he made a bundle on it!