I was so excited the first time I saw a Chinese Show Panda Medal. It was a 2018 San Francisco Coin Expo Santa Clara Gold Show Panda, featuring a smiling panda laying on his back chewing on some bamboo, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. The other side of the medal depicts Chinatown in San Francisco with a dragon in the foreground. The design of the medal was exquisite, as beautiful and detailed as any I had ever seen. Unfortunately, I did not have the funds to purchase the medal at that time.
Imagine my surprise and good luck when I happened upon the same medal just a few months later at the Long Beach Expo! This time I was able to buy it. Since the early 1980s, China has minted Show Pandas to commemorate major numismatic shows and coin expos worldwide. Many of these medals boast stunning designs, and most have very limited mintages. These two factors combineto make the medals very collectable. At the time I bought this medal, I still had no idea what I had just purchased.
As I began searching for more Show Pandas, I made a great discovery; The Chinese Show Panda Catalogue! All the research had already been done for me! This incredible book lists all the Show Pandas from the major shows from 1984 through 2019, along with photos of every medal, planned mintages of each medal, and pricing based on condition (grade), weight, and scarcity. The book also gives insight, in great detail, into the story behind many of the medals. For example, design elements, where the minting took place, the show or expo for which the medals were designed, as well as those responsible for bringing the medals to each of these worldwide events are just a few of the items included. The book also contains many colorful photographs. Armed with all the information I gathered from this book, I was able to focus on exactly which Show Panda Medals I wanted to find.
Over the years I have been fortunate enough to come across and obtain a variety of Show Panda Medals from many different coin shows. Here are a few more of my favorites:
