Perhaps the crown jewel of the WWF set for many collectors, the Chinese in 1986 contributed a Giant Panda Coin (surprise!). The reverse Panda side design is rather artistic, with rising mountains, Bamboo and Ginkgo tastefully arraigned on the coin around a panda sitting on a log in obvious movement. The obverse is not the Temple of Heaven that Panda collectors are used to. Instead it is a circular wreath, with stars inside above what looks like the Imperial Compound in Peking.
For years it has been taught that Panda are not true bears. Boy was that WRONG! Pandas are bears and evolved off the same tree as the Sloth bear, the Short Faced Bear (extinct), the Grizzly and Polar Bear, etc. It has adapted to a completely vegetation diet of bamboo and has developed a large pad in the claw(hand) to give opposing force when holding Bamboo shoots, something other bears would not be able to do. Cladestically all bears are defined as follow (from wikipedia).
The family Ursidae is one of nine families in the suborder Caniformia, or "doglike" carnivores, within the order Carnivora. Bears' closest living relatives are the pinnipeds and musteloids. The following synapomorphic (derived) traits set bears apart from presence of an alisphenoid canal paroccipital processes that are large and not fused to the auditory bullae auditory bullae are not enlarged lacrimal bone is vestigial cheek teeth are bunodont and hence indicative of a broad, hypocarnivorous (non-strictly meat-eating) diet (although hypercarnivorous (strictly meat-eating) taxa are known from the fossil Additionally, members of this family possess posteriorly oriented M2 postprotocrista molars, elongated m2 molars, and a reduction of the premolars. Modern bears comprise eight species in three subfamilies: Ailuropodinae (monotypic with the giant panda), Tremarctinae (monotypic with the Spectacled Bear), and Ursinae (containing six species divided into one to three genera, depending upon authority).
This is a great video on Bear Evolution including Panda's
This is 5 Yuan coin of only .900 silver fineness. It weighs a light 22.22 grams and has a diameter of 36 mm. it is a proof coin of 25,000 specimens produced by the Chinese Mint.
Several mints from around the world make exciting coin designs in circulating alloys, silver and gold. Among my favorites are the Perth Mint in Austrailia which produces a variety of coins for nations mostly through out the Pacific Rim. The Neatherlands has also produced some interesting designs, and several private US based mints have produced foreign currency on contract, include the Franklin Mint which has produced many Israeli Coins.Our interest in foreign coins has been nominal but rapidly growing as it seems that US designs are so stuck in the mud. Also, foreign mints are creating bold new designs with color and bimetal designs that are both eye catching and fun.
This is a short list of our current modern design:
Avoid Gijs Henzen, owner of Munthandel G. Henzen - Antisemetic Facists
Munthandel G. Henzen's (MA Shops) owner Gijs Henzen, is an AntiSemetic Fascist The company, Munthandel G Henzen is a prominent dealer of international and ancient coins on the internet, commonly known as MA Coins. It is owned by Gijs Henzen. You can not trust him, as I leaned previously in dealing with him with several coins that came with damage including a silver 1969 FOA Uruguay coin which arrived with green verdis on the coin.
But more importantly he is a passionate anti-Semite who supports Hamas and the virulent and genocidal Islamic organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hezbollah that wants Jews dead.
It is a moral imperative to remain clear of him and to do no business with this Nazi. If you are Jewish, double down on that. The life you save might well be your own.
Coin Collecting at the Safir House
WWF 25th Anniversary: Giant Panda - Ailuropoda melanoleuca
