2022 China Moon Festival Panda

New for 2022! Spectacular China Moon Festival Panda™ Proofs Like You’ve Never Seen Them!

What Is It About China Festival Moon Pandas that Makes Collectors Go Nuts?

Since its introduction eight years ago, this series from the China Mint has been a very highly anticipated collector’s favorite. That’s because from day one the innovative designs have been ahead of their time, setting a high bar for other mints around the world. 2015 started it all with coins featuring space-flown gold. 2016 saw the introduction of the first Piedfort coins. 2017 brought special holographic accents. 2018 and 2019 featured the first-ever White and Red Jade gemstones embedded in the reverse. 2020 saw the first-ever titanium piece, and 2021 brought us a Moon Festival Panda that featured a unique combination of both super incuse and high relief, creating a compelling “layered relief” effect.

Now, in 2022, we have another spectacular, once-in-a-blue-moon Moon Festival Panda release. Keep reading to find what it is that makes this new issue so special.

What Is the China Moon Festival Anyway?

By commemorating the Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, these limited edition collectibles are honoring one of the largest and most important holiday celebrations in China, a tradition that can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty over 3,000 years ago. Like Thanksgiving in the U.S., it’s a time when families and friends across China gather to give thanks for the harvest bounty and pray for future blessings of longevity, family and prosperity.

The Moon? A Festival? And Pandas? What’s that All About?

Falling on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar—the night when the moon is at its fullest and brightest—the Moon Festival is centered around the moon because in the beginning it provided the most accurate way for Chinese farmers to tell time, and was therefore crucial to successful harvests. Giant Pandas, which spend up to 14 hours a day eating and can reach 330 lbs., are increasingly known as a symbol of China, living nowhere else outside of captivity. When the China Mint issued the first Panda design coins in 1982, the series became instantly revered thanks to its beautiful, classic, one-year-only designs. And now the same can be said of the Moon Festival Panda Series in its eighth year.

Why the 2022 Moon Festival Pandas Are Spectacularly Amazing

2022 continues the trend for highly anticipated, unique, beautiful Moon Festival Panda designs, introducing another FIRST: a reverse featuring an exceptional selectively plated, blackened metal finish on the Panda bear itself!

“Lucky-8”

Because Eight (Ba in Chinese) has a similar pronunciation to 发 (Fa, meaning wealth or fortune), the number 8 is considered to be the luckiest number to the Chinese people. This year the 2022 Moon Festival Pandas are available in two never-before-issued sizes in this series—struck in 888 grams of gold and eight ounces of silver, and for the first time ever a“Lucky-8” mark has been added to celebrate the eighth year of this spectacular series.

All New One Year Only, Ultra-High Relief Design

Both sides of each of these 2022 Moon Festival Pandas were struck in Ultra-High Relief (UHR), so all of the rich detail from each image literally jumps from the coin’s surface. For 2022, the reverse depicts a Panda with blackened metal surfaces on the Panda bear’s ears, eyes and leg areas alongside a large depiction of the Moon, craters and all, hovering in a night sky. The obverse portrays a model of the ancient Chinese Huntianyi (armillary sphere), the Great Wall of China, and the year 2022.

Exquisite Proof Finish Offers a Higher Degree of Quality and Scarcity

Proofs like these are struck to a much higher standard of beauty, quality, and craftsmanship than circulated and uncirculated coins. Proof planchets (blanks) are specially treated, hand-polished, and cleaned to ensure high-quality strikes, then fed into presses fitted with specially polished dies, and struck at least twice, unlike regular coins which are struck only once. The extra strikes give proofs a glamorous shine and make intricate, razor-sharp details of the design pop against polished, mirror-like fields. While regular coins are struck on high-speed presses by the thousands, proofs are individually struck by highly skilled artisans focused on creating masterpieces. Collectors love proofs not only because they’re the best quality, but also because their mintages are typically low.

The Famous “Z” Mint Mark

These beautiful pieces are each struck at China’s Shenzhen Guobao Mint, and they include a small, uncommon “Z” mint mark on the bottom left side of the obverse. The “Z” mint mark is rarely used on China’s Panda-series releases, so its inclusion on these Moon Festival Pandas is a very distinctive touch.

Struck in 99.9% Gold and Silver

You have your choice of individual Moon Festival Panda Proofs struck in 99.9% gold (888 grams, 88 grams or one ounce) and 99.9% silver (eight ounces, 88 grams). Or you can combine gold and silver Pandas in a Moon Festival Panda 3-Piece Set consisting of Pandas struck in one-ounce gold, 88-gram silver and eight-ounce silver. Each ships with a numbered certificate of authenticity, colorful Moon Festival booklet and deluxe packaging.

Certified Absolutely Perfect, with Special Designations

Through this exclusive offer, you can secure the best of the best, and also the first of the best! Each gold and silver 2022 Moon Festival Panda comes certified by Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) as perfect Proof-70 Ultra Cameo (PF70 UC) condition as well as First Day of Issue (FDI), meaning each piece was received for grading within 24 hours of the official mint release. These Moon Festival Pandas are perfect, and they’re fresh, from the mint on the very first day.

Lucky Low Mintages. Very Low.

Mintages for these Moon Festival Panda Proofs are severely limited. Just eight 888-gram Gold Moon Festival Pandas were minted, along with 88 of the 88-Gram Gold, only 188 of the One-Ounce Gold, just 488 of the eight-ounce Silver, and only 888 of the 88-Gram Silver Moon Festival Pandas struck for worldwide release. Each mintage represents an auspicious number according to Chinese folklore as the number “8” is considered the luckiest number and is associated with good fortune. With so few proofs available, however, only a lucky few will ever get the chance to own one of these pieces. Take a look for yourself to see why these Moon Festival Panda Proofs will disappear quickly!

2022 888-Gram Gold Moon Festival Panda Proof UHR PF70 UC FDI

888 Grams of 99.9% Gold
First Ever Selective Blackened Metal Finish on Reverse
First-Ever “Lucky 8” Privy Mark
“Z” Shenzhen Guobao Mint Mark
One-Year-Only, Ultra-High Relief Designs
NGC-Certified Flawless PF70 UC Condition
Certified as FDI by NGC
World Exclusive Release
Custom Wood Presentation Case
Mintage of Only 8 Proofs
Limited Availability

2022 88-Gram Gold Moon Festival Panda Proof UHR PF70 UC FDI

88 Grams of 99.9% Gold
First Ever Selective Blackened Metal Finish on Reverse
First-Ever “Lucky 8” Privy Mark
“Z” Shenzhen Guobao Mint Mark
One-Year-Only, Ultra-High Relief Designs
NGC-Certified Flawless PF70 UC Condition
Certified as FDI by NGC
World Exclusive Release
Custom Wood Presentation Case
Mintage of Only 88 Proofs
Limited Availability

2022 One-Ounce Gold Moon Festival Panda Proof UHR PF70 UC FDI

One Ounce of 99.9% Gold
First Ever Selective Blackened Metal Finish on Reverse
First-Ever “Lucky 8” Privy Mark
“Z” Shenzhen Guobao Mint Mark
One-Year-Only, Ultra-High Relief Designs
NGC-Certified Flawless PF70 UC Condition
Certified as FDI by NGC
World Exclusive Release
Custom Wood Presentation Case
Mintage of Only 188 Proofs
Limited Availability

2022 Eight-Ounce Silver Moon Festival Panda UHR Proof PF70 UC FDI

Eight-Ounce of 99.9% Silver
First Ever Selective Blackened Metal Finish on Reverse
First-Ever “Lucky 8” Privy Mark
“Z” Shenzhen Guobao Mint Mark
One-Year-Only, Ultra-High Relief Designs
NGC-Certified Flawless PF70 UC Condition
Certified as FDI by NGC
World Exclusive Release
Custom Wood Presentation Case
Mintage of Only 488 Proofs
Limited Availability

2022 88-Gram Silver Moon Festival Panda Proof UHR PF70 UC FDI

88 Grams of 99.9% Silver
First Ever Selective Blackened Metal Finish on Reverse
First-Ever “Lucky 8” Privy Mark
“Z” Shenzhen Guobao Mint Mark
One-Year-Only, Ultra-High Relief Designs
NGC-Certified Flawless PF70 UC Condition
Certified as FDI by NGC
World Exclusive Release
Custom Wood Presentation Case
Mintage of Only 888 Proofs
Limited Availability