The Moon Panda is dead?

[Hobbot]

As a collector, I have mixed feelings about the recent rumor by China to kill any new moon festival panda production.  My favorite design is the 2015 panda because it appears to be gazing at the moon.  Not only is it cool that the gold used in the coin has visited space, but the scale of the moon in that design just works well to balance with the busy textured panda's fur.  Is anyone else disappointed that new designs won't be produced this year, and possibly ever again?  Do you think it is a good or bad move for China to end the series?

[GetToDaChoppa]

The moon panda coins look great but the premium on them is way too much.

[Markh]

9 hours ago, Hobbot said:

As a collector, I have mixed feelings about the recent move by China to kill any new moon festival panda production.  My favorite design is the 2015 panda because it appears to be gazing at the moon.  Not only is it cool that the gold used in the coin has visited space, but the scale of the moon in that design just works well to balance with the busy textured panda's fur.  Is anyone else disappointed that new designs won't be produced this year, and possibly ever again?  Do you think it is a good or bad move for China to end the series?

Could this be because they are denominated in the old 1oz weight and not the new 30g. Maybe for the limited mintage it's not viable.

[KevinG]

Does this also mean the end for the Panda lunar serie?

[morezone]

@Hobbot Moved to General PM section as it covers all varieties.

[Oldun]

Happy I have one graded 70 and that there will be no more.....

[sgcoins]

Interesting article, will this include all non fiat panda series and coin show items? 

If all series are stopt by the Chinese government, collectors could go after the earlier issues. And prices for these non fiat coins could go up really fast.  On the other hand people could also lose interest, because some series have only one or two releases.

I'm curious to know how this will develop!!!