China Panda precious-metal coins
Gold PandaProgram origin
1982–Present
The Gold Panda opened China's Panda program in 1982. Its history joins a changing annual reverse to an evolving bullion architecture—from ounce denominations to today's metric family.
Begin with 1982
The first Panda
An origin without a face-value inscription.
The 1982 Gold Panda established the program with four ounce-format weights. The first pieces carry the seated panda and bamboo reverse but no face-value inscription.
The twentieth-ounce size and a face-value structure joined the gold family in 1983.
Gold weight architecture
A family of sizes,
recast in grams.
The Gold Panda is not one fixed format. Its bullion structure began in ounces and was reorganized as a metric family in 2016.
Original ounce family
Four sizes introduced the program. The twentieth-ounce size joined the structure in 1983.
Modern gram family
Five bullion weights now provide the clearest modern Gold Panda lens.
A technical turning point
From ounces
to grams
The change is best understood as a three-part technical sequence, not a single abrupt reinvention.
Ounce-era bullion
Gold weights followed the familiar troy-ounce family for decades.
Inscription transition
The usual weight and fineness inscriptions were omitted, marking a distinct transitional issue.
Metric Panda
30g, 15g, 8g, 3g and 1g became the standard bullion structure.
Selected annual designs
Five points in a changing gold canvas.
Representative reverses show the program's visual movement without turning the page into an exhaustive year wall.
Foundation
One panda, bamboo and no face value.
Metric opening
The 30g gold standard appears.
Love begins
The modern narrative opens.
Love passed on
The cub becomes a mother.
Companionship
Two pandas rest together.
Issued chapters
A Decade
of Love
Gold participates in the same annual narrative that began in 2019. These three reverses mark its opening, the sixth chapter and the current eighth chapter.
Selected milestones
The program changes structure without losing its identity.
Gold Panda begins
Four ounce-format weights and the first annual reverse.
Denominations expand
A face-value structure and twentieth-ounce size join the gold family.
Inscription transition
A distinct issue before the metric change.
Metric bullion arrives
Five standard gram weights replace the ounce architecture.
Annual narrative begins
A mother and newborn cub open the modern story.
Fortieth-anniversary context
The long-running gold program reaches four decades.
Design and minting context
National issue,
multiple production units.
The People's Bank of China is the issuer. Recent set announcements name three minting institutions together; they are production context, not separate Gold Panda families.