Bullion coin collectors enjoy Chinese panda coins more than almost any other bullion coin series.  However, in the past year, counterfeit panda coins (especially silver ones) have flooded the market.  This guide will help you avoid counterfeit pandas.

• First, when you are looking at an auction for a panda, make sure that the picture shows the denomination (a number, such as 10 or 50, followed by the Yuan symbol --  ).  It is believed that all counterfeit pandas are made in China, and presumably the counterfeiters get in less trouble if they leave off the denomination.  As a result, the majority of counterfeit pandas do not have the denomination on them.  Note that there are a few legitimate pandas that do not include the Yuan marking (such as the 1982 gold ones, and the 1992 Sino-Japanese one).
• Then, check the seller's location.  Currently, most fake pandas are sold by sellers in China.  There are lots of good sellers in China, and there will likely be some people re-selling counterfeits from other countries, but you need to be especially careful with auctions from China.
• Check to see if there is a very low price, but a very high shipping charge.  Many (but not all!) of the counterfeit pandas are sold by sellers in China, that have shipping charges that account for 90% or more of the total price.
• Check the seller's feedback.  If their feedback is private, never buy a Chinese panda from them!  While some legitimate sellers have private feedback, and it is often safe to buy other items from such sellers, you can't see the words "counterfeit" or "fake" in private feedback.  Also, if their feedback is less than about 99%, check their feedback carefully to see what negative comments there are.  Sellers often get undeserved negative feedback, but reading the negative feedback should give you an idea of whether or not counterfeits are likely (for example, complaints of slow shipping may not be a problem, whereas complaints of items not as advertised should be taken as a warning).
• Make sure that "plate" or "plated" does not appear in the title or description of the auction.  Legitimate sellers that got stuck with a counterfeit panda may state that it is "silver plated", for example, to cover themselves.
• If the silver panda is dated 2001 or earlier, the reeded edge should be straight (the side of the coin should look like this: ||||||||||||); if the silver pand is dated 2002 or later, the reeded edge should be slanted (like this:  \\\\\\\\\\\\).  It is believed that all counterfeits have straight edges, so this is useful in identifying counterfeits from 2002 and later.
  
• See if the item is covered by PayPal Buyer Protection.  This is a good indication that the seller is legitimate, and will protect you if the item is counterfeit.
• Make sure to pay with a credit card, either through PayPal or directly, or a known escrow service.  Never send cash, check, money order, bank wire, or anything except a credit card or known escrow service (one you have heard of before; there are lots of fake escrow services out there).  Using a credit card will help ensure that you can get your money back if you get a counterfeit coin.
• The presence of a COA (Certiticate of Authenticity) is meaningless.  Although real panda coins often include them, some of the counterfeit ones do as well (which may actually be a real COA from a panda with a lower value).
  

The above tips will help you avoid counterfeit pandas.  However, you can't know a counterfeit until you receive it.  So if you went through all the above steps, the next thing to do is weigh the coin once you receive it.  To do this, you should have a scale that is accurate to 1/10 gram (if you don't have one, don't want to buy one, and have a good relationship with a local jeweler or coin store, you could ask them to weigh it).  A scale accurate to 1g can be used for weighing 1oz coins, although 1/10 gram accuracy is better.  A 1 ounce silver panda (one from 1989 to present) should weigh at least 31.1g (counterfeits made of copper weigh about 27-28g, and counterfeits with other metals have been seen weighing 21g), although there are reports of a .4g tolerance, which would allow them to weigh as little as 30.7g).  Note that it is best to weigh in grams, as it avoids the confusion between troy and avoirdupois ounces (a 1 ounce silver panda weighs about 1.1 ounces on a standard scale weighing in avoirdupois ounces, since precious metals are sold in troy ounces).  Note that you should not weigh the plastic that the coin is in.  If you do not want to remove it from the plastic, you should take it to a coin dealer to determine if it is counterfeit (even then, many will not be able to make the determination, due to the quality of the counterfeits).

It is possible for a counterfeit silver coin to weigh exactly the same as a real silver coin, but it is not believed that there are any such counterfeit pandas at this time.  A counterfeit gold coin, however, will always weigh less than it should (or be larger than it should).

1oz Silver Panda weights, finenesses, and diameters (note that there is discrepancy as to the actual weight and fineness of the 1987 panda)



Hopefully, this guide will help you enjoy collecting Chinese pandas, without worrying too much about getting caught with counterfeit coins.