mmissinglink

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@Numistacker will have to explain how they come to the conclusion of " surface hairlines" as these coins looked amazing raw.

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^   I don't know, my computer has been playing tricks lately. Wasn't intentional on my part.

Good for you, MickB. Honesty and integrity is a scarce commodity in many people today....glad to see you value it in yourself.

^  You're doing the right thing by being honest, in my book.

That's the way these things happen fairly routinely. I recall a fairly sustained flurry of interest in and orders for the 2011 Xi-Shi Holding A Pearl medals back a couple or so years.
Some of the Chinese medals have very low mintages (comparatively with "low mintage" coins from mints like the RCM, RM, and PM) and so I think collectors and enthusiasts (as well as speculators I suppose) rush to get in on the action sooner rather than later....because later may be either none to buy, lower quality examples, or more expensive. It happened to me at least once where I hesitated and then a few weeks later, none were left and the couple that could be found were considerably more costly.
Even if the mintages aren't very low, some of the Chinese medals are just so awesome looking that it's hard to resist not ordering as soon a you find out about a release.
 
 

3rd batch of 4 from NGC, here are the keepers!

Good for you, MickB. Honesty and integrity is a scarce commodity in many people today....glad to see you value it in yourself.

^  You're doing the right thing by being honest, in my book.

Good for you, MickB. Honesty and integrity is a scarce commodity in many people today....glad to see you value it in yourself.

^  You're doing the right thing by being honest, in my book.

Good for you, MickB. Honesty and integrity is a scarce commodity in many people today....glad to see you value it in yourself.

Good for you, MickB. Honesty and integrity is a scarce commodity in many people today....glad to see you value it in yourself.

^  You're doing the right thing by being honest, in my book.

^  You're doing the right thing by being honest, in my book.

^  You're doing the right thing by being honest, in my book.

Today I received my 2006 silver proof Queens' 80th birthday coin that I won on ebay for just over £16.
On top of that in the post was a package with an ASE & a 2017 silver Britannia that I never ordered.
It was addressed to me but had the wrong house number on it. When I opened it there was a receipt with order status 'complete'. Now I then compared it to my recent order receipt from the same firm that had 'processed' in the order status. Duplicate order from Yorkshire bullion!
Me being me, I've tried ringing them but no response. I'll give them another ring in the morning. I could easily say nothing but they haven't done me a bad turn & have been pretty good with my orders.

Tuvalu 1/2 oz silver Proof Snow Leopards. Nothing special, but I liked it. Going to pick up the other 4 coins in the serie as well.
 
 

Decided to back fill the Shanghai Mint Lunar 80mm Brass Medals.  I'm not up to date.
The dragon was ridiculously expensive.  It came in a broken pouch but I was expecting it to be opened and loose anyway.  It too me forever to make sense of the back.
The Rabbit was the first release for this cycle.  Originally 5k mintage but subsequently dropped to 1k and the styling of the back changed.  Came sealed in the pouch and again, I was expecting it to be opened and loose and is also the cheapest of the series.

Superb !

Can't say I'm keen on the designs, they seem very cartoon/juvenile for my taste.

Nice Britannias!

I was weak. Could not resist to buy another Reverse Britannia set. This time graded.

I just purchased one of these remarkable bars myself and have not yet gotten around to taking pictures but indeed, in hand, it is truly exquisite and now stands as one of my favorite of all collectable items.

Lovely arnt they... 

I have never seen a photos of a gold Panda in which the wood appears to be the correct hue and color, the plastic packaging appears to be the correct hue and color, but the alleged coin looks to be a completely incorrect hue and color. I have personally photographed coins on wooden surfaces and this fact has never changed the color or hue of the coin. Also, while it is possible that strong ambient light in the room could cause a color shift to be seen on parts of the coin, when I look at the reflected light color on the plastic, I am having a difficult time understanding why the item inside would take on a color and hue that is so different from that which a gold coin would reflect,
 
It's just odd and I could see why a number of people would automatically assume it wasn't a gold coin from those pictures.