Following last month’s design unveiling and initial release in China, the 2015 Gold and Silver Panda Coins are now making their way to the US market with many dealers taking orders for later delivery. This year’s releases are noted by the removal of the inscriptions indicating the weight, metal, and fineness.

Following the typical format, the common obverse design across the coins features the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (The Temple of Heaven). The inscriptions within an outer ring include the title of the People’s Republic of China and the “2015” date.

The newly created reverse design shows a single panda eating a stalk of bamboo against a backdrop of bamboo. The only inscription is the denomination. As noted, there is no indication of the weight, metal, or fineness of the coin. All prior releases of the series since launch in 1983 have included this information on the reverse.

The line up for the 2015 Panda coins remains the same as the prior year with seven different sizes in gold and three different sizes in silver. The gold options are struck in 99.9% purity and range in size from 1/20 oz to 1 kg. The silver options are struck in 99.9% purity and range from 1 oz to 1 kg.

Maximum mintage levels also remain the same as the prior year. The most popular 1 oz silver coin remains at 8,000,000 pieces and the 1 oz gold coin carrying a mintage of 1,000,000.