From Silver to Gold

In 1982 a friend showed me her birthday present, a 1/4 gold Chinese Panda made into a necklace. I just loved it and went to our local coin store to inquire about them. I was shown a complete set with a 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz and 1/20 oz coins. I was told that every year the reverse would change. The set was pricey but after thinking about it I decided I really loved it and bought the set.

It was at this point of my collecting career that I decided that collecting U.S. coins was not for me. For some reason realizing that U.S. coins would stay the same design for decades and that millions of each coin were minted, I decided that I wanted the variety of change each year and to only collect coins that I really loved.

Because I could not afford to buy more than the Panda set each year, these were the only coins I collected from 1982-2010. I would really look forward each year for the announcement of the new design.

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