Jay Turner, NGC Grader and Attributor, examines the latest Silver Panda counterfeit that has been uncovered within the numismatic world and describes the various ways one can spot it.

The Chinese Panda has only been around since 1982 but, surprisingly, it has become one of the most widely counterfeited World coins. In previous articles, we wrote about counterfeit 2001-D and 2003 Silver Pandas. In this article, we’ll examine the diagnostics of a counterfeit 1995 “Large Twig” Silver Panda.

NGC certifies a lot of Panda coins. The series is as popular as ever with collectors. It’s especially popular among collectors participating in the NGC Registry. Each piece that NGC certifies is not only graded but checked for authenticity. Recently, a counterfeit 1995 “Large Twig” Silver Panda with unusual finish and tooling marks was submitted for grading.

In 1995, the Chinese Mints put out different varieties of Panda designs. The Mint State issues were struck at two different mints with subtly varying designs or varieties. The Shanghai Mint issue featured a panda with a “Large Twig” branch extending upwards from its hand. The Shenyang Mint had a “Small Twig” version with no branch extending beyond the panda’s hands. The Shenyang Mint or “Small Twig” also comes in Large and Small Date sub-varieties. To date, NGC has not received any submissions of counterfeit 1995 “Small Twig” Silver Pandas, and the “Large Twig” described here is the only counterfeit we have received that is dated 1995. Read Full Article