Saturday, November 3, 2012

Xiyu (Ding Feng)'s Chinese Coin Market Price Guide

As one of the pioneers of modern Chinese coins, dealer/collector Xiyu (real name Ding Feng) publishes price guides for MCC regularly on jibi.net. They reflect the general trend of MCC pricing in China. Although it is in Chinese, Google Translate does a good job translating most of the content. Both mintage and current market prices are listed for rare coins. Coins are listed by category in separate posts. The price is in the Chinese Yuan. "w" in the lists means ten thousand.

This price guide can also be used as a pick list for those who are not sure what to buy for MCC.


http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbbs.jibi.net%2Findex.asp%3Fboardid%3D135&hl=en&langpair=auto|en&tbb=1&ie=gb2312



8 comments:

  1. Hi Frank, do you (or others) know if there are different versions for 2000 1/10oz colored gold Dragon?
    If yes what is the difference between these versions? See below the source about my question:
    _http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=0.0.0.98.efZmBC&id=9882999281
    _http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=0.0.0.117.1GOo6f&id=157333681
    Congratulations for your new blog!
    Regards,
    yin

    ReplyDelete
  2. I do not know very much about color gold coins, but from what I read on the web, there are two varieties of the coin. The error coin has the top line in the Chinese character 辰 too short, and the obverse and reverse are reversely aligned. But the picture of the error coin on Taobao does not show a shortened line. It cannot show the alignment either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An expert eye could tell about the character, I am not. However the observe and reverse reversely aligned is clear. Thanks for your help.
      yin

      Delete
    2. About MCC colored, my own first impression: investors at all levels - especially out of China - are overlooking these "new strangers" that unfit in the traditionnel coins investing models. However, early morning birds collectors are strolling around , and little by little learn to know their formidable cultural value and absolute beauty. Take care! When you have one of them in the front of your face, it could be a love story . .
      The highest quality, vibrant color, the finest details, universal themes . .
      Some of them, among many others:
      _http://www.dxcoin.com/coin-1509.html
      _http://www.dxcoin.com/coin-1460.html
      "Journey to the West" collection.
      Regards,
      yin

      Delete
    3. I am not sure what people outside China think about color coins. For many Chinese collectors, myself included, the focus of collection is on coins issued before 1998, the so-called "old, exquisite and rare." Color coins came late. There are two specific concerns about color coins. First, they are "flat." Most of them print on a flat surface. People like me are used to relief and high relief on traditional coins. The art of sculpture on color coins is lost. Also, color effects are best displayed on stamps, not on coins because of the media. Second, the risk of colors fading over the years is a real threat. Thinking about dozens of years of collection down the road, I cannot trust the claim that the colors will never fade. Only time will tell.

      Delete
    4. The so-called “old, exquisite and rare” coins you refer are now for elite collectors, at least many of them; Huang Ruiyong’s star list, the cream of traditional MCC. For new entrants and/or collectors without deep pocket, the new, exquisite and scarce could be a valuable alternative, including color coins. To my knowledge, for the first few years, color coins have been printed on flatter surface (1), but that changes very quickly (2). For my part, the colors effects displayed on my color coins are shiny, saturated and sharp, on silver and gold. The risk of colors fading over years, yes only time will tell, but I can say my almost 10 years old color coin has still bright colors as the first day; anyway they would remain scarce and desirable. Mintages for the color coins are often high (to fill a demand in or outside China?), and increasing years after years, series after series. A lot of the Chinese Culture spread over the world being to come, the MCC colored offer a wide variety of classic themes. Vibrant color combined with hard relief makes them beautiful works of art, in my personal opinion.
      (1) _ http://www.dxcoin.com/coin-1458.html (vibrant colors, less hard relief)
      (2) _ http://www.dxcoin.com/coin-1561.html (vibrant colors, more hard relief)
      Regards,
      yin

      Delete
  3. Check Google images for 短辰龙. You will see the shortened top stroke on enlarged pictures.

    ReplyDelete