Unicorn Gold Coins – the Rare Chinese Commemorative Coins

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Unicorn Gold Coins – the Rare Chinese Precious Metal Commemorative Coins
By: Haomin Chen  

Among the precious metal commemorative coins issued by the people's Bank of China, "Unicorn" coin is a popular series. Unicorn (Qilin), dragon, phoenix and tortoise are four intelligent animals in Chinese ancient legend, which are regarded as ‘the kings of furry animals’. The male unicorn is called ‘Qi’ in Chinese, and ‘Lin’ for the female. Qilin is regarded as a mascot and symbolises peace, longevity and mild-tempered. It is said that it can live for two thousand years. Therefore, the ancients believed that wherever the unicorn appears there will be something good to happen, as their appearance brings happiness and fortune for a generation. People at that time hoped that unicorn could accompany them all the time, bringing them luck and get rid of the ominousness. Thus, the Chinese Unicorn Gold Coins were issued as wished. In addition, unicorn coin also has a unique implication in terms of both culture and politics. The reverse of unicorn coin is the western unicorn, which represents the aspiration of wonderful life in western culture. The status of Western Unicorn is as important as Qilin in Chinese culture. By combining these two animals in a coin, it implies the exchange of Eastern and Western culture. In political perspective, the unicorn coin shows the close friendship between China and the United States. Although the unicorn coins issued for 4 years only (1994-1997), there are lots of precious items found in the series.

In 1994 the first unicorn coin was released, with the theme “Child-Sending Unicorn” which is a favourite subject to the Chinese. The coin has several specifications: 1/20 ounce, 1/10 ounce, 1/4 ounces, 1/2 ounces, 1 ounce, 5 ounces and 1 kg, which all are finely crafted. All coins issued for less than 5000 pieces except the 1/20 ounce which has a slightly larger circulation. There are only 99 pieces of 5 ounces coin and 18 for 1 kg coin. It is rare to see the 5 ounces gold coin in current auctions, not to say the 1 kg one.

The theme in 1995 is "Mother and Son Unicorn". This series use the same craftsmanship and the specification is as same as the 1994 series except the 1 kg coin. It is presumed that the price for 1994 1 kg unicorn coins was too high and the transaction was not very well, leading to the cancellation of 1kg unicorn coin in 1995. 99 pieces of 5 ounces unicorn coins were issued in 1995, and certainly become the popular item among collectors.

‘Unicorn and Flower’ is the theme in 1996, and the 1/4 ounces is named “Unicorn and Maiden". They all have the same craftsmanship and specification that used in 1994. It is found that 1 kilograms of gold coin was issued again, maybe it was because the 1994 1 kg coins have been sold out. 1/20 ounce of B.U gold coin was also included in this series. The 5 ounces coin increased to 108 pieces, but still a scarce one. It was planned to issue 18 pieces of the 1 kg gold coin, same as in 1994. In recent years, we could find some from several United States collectors, but it seems less than 10 pieces were found in the current market. It is said that the actual mintage is less than 18 pieces and this coin is believed to be the star coin among the whole unicorn coin series

1997 was the last year of issuing unicorn coin. In this year, only one specification was issued, and that is the 1/10 ounce proof gold coin. It was planned to issue 5,000 pieces but it is believed that it was under-produced according to the transaction figures in the current market. This variety is the most difficult to find among all 1/10 ounce unicorn coins.

The unicorn gold coin was a special project conducted by American dealers. As most of coins were sold to overseas market, especially in the US and the European countries, most of the coins were not attached with Chinese certificate. Indeed, the packing and certificates were designed and packed by American dealers based on the preference of the target market. Some sets are with tin-plated gold unicorn. Also, the box of 1 kg unicorn coin was attached with a bronze name tag of the collector, making it more personalised. All 5 ounces and 1 kg coins even have number engraved on the edge of the coin to make it more unique. If collectors can collect the complete set of unicorn gold coins, not only they will be satisfied of the accomplishment but also enjoy the great pleasure brought by the beauty and appreciation of the collectibles.

中国贵金属纪念币精品之麒麟金币
作者:陈浩敏

中国人民银行发行的贵金属纪念币中，“麒麟”是倍受藏家热爱追捧的一个系列。中国古代传说中麒麟与龙、凤、龟合为四灵，乃毛类动物之王。古人把雄性称麒，雌性称麟;麒麟是吉祥神宠，主太平、长寿；性情温和，传说能活两千年。古人认为，麒麟出没处，必有祥瑞。麒麟，亦是上古中国人最期望出现的吉祥动物，它们的出现表示一代的幸福。因此，那时的人们希望麒麟总是伴随著自己，给自己带来幸运和光明，而辟除不祥。所以，中国麒麟金币应运而生。

此外，麒麟币的魅力也是独树一帜的，它具备文化与政治的双重意义，麒麟币的另外一面图案是西方吉祥物独角兽，独角兽代表的是西方文化中人民对美好生活的向往，在西方人的心目中其地位犹如东方的麒麟，把此两种神兽作为图案融合在同一枚币上，是一种文化的交融，在政治上也象征著东西方两个大国-中美两国的美好友谊。虽然它的发行年期由1994-1997只有短短的4年时间，不过其中精品迭出，甚至有为数不少的大珍。

1994年麒麟币首次发行，以“送子麒麟”为主题，这个是备受国人钟爱的题材，金币规格有： 1/20盎司、1/10盎司、1/4盎司、1/2盎司、1盎司、5盎司、1公斤，全部採用精制工艺，发行量除1/20盎司稍大以外，其他均在5000枚以内。其中5盎司仅为99枚，1公斤更是仅仅只有18枚，一面世就已注定是稀世珍品。历经岁月的沉淀，5盎司金币还偶尔能在大型拍卖场上见到，公斤金币已是多年难睹其芳容。

1995年的麒麟金币以“母子麒麟”为主题，全部採用精制工艺，延续了1994年的各种规格，唯独缺少了1公斤金币，估计是因为94年公斤金币发行当年价码太高，交易不畅，导致95年取消该规格的发行。1995年的5盎司金币同样是99枚，目前也理所当然地成为倍受藏家追捧的收藏珍品。

1996年麒麟金币主题为“鲜花麒麟”，其中1/4盎司金币则为“少女与麒麟”，全部採用精制工艺，规格完全照搬1994年的各种规格，于是这一年，1公斤金币又再度重现（兴许是经销商们库存的94年公斤金币已经售完了），另外还增加了1/20盎司普制版金币，这一年的5盎司金币发行量虽然增加到108枚，但依然属稀缺品种。1公斤金币同1994年一样，计划发行量是18枚，近年从美国藏家手上相继流出几枚，不过依照目前市面所见，似乎尚未发现10以上的号码，有可能数量并未打足，相信日后将有机会问鼎麒麟金币币王。

1997年是麒麟币的收官之年，这一年麒麟金币仅仅发行了一个规格，即1/10盎司精制金币，计划量是5000枚，根据目前市场见光度，其实铸量也应严重不足。该品种是1/10盎司麒麟金币的币筋。

麒麟金币系列因为是美国经销商的特约项目，当年大部分销售于海外，尤其美国欧洲市场，所以大部分不配备中文证书，而是由美国经销商根据销售地区的喜好而订制包装盒及说明书，并自行进行组合配套，有些套装配上锡制镀金麒麟，公斤金币的盒子上甚至贴上购买藏家的姓名铜牌，增添了独特的趣味。整套系列的5盎司、1公斤金币边缘均有镌刻编号，更增加了每枚藏品的独一性。收藏者如能集全整套麒麟金币，在满足收藏成就感的同时，也能享受藏品的美感与增值带来的极大乐趣。

王子

谢谢，欣赏了

币（郅博）

The first time I saw Mr.Chin was from the PCGS website page and knew that he was an expert specialized in modern Chinese coinge.Mr.Chin has been collecting coins for thirty years since he was twelve years old. His collection includes Chinese historical coins and modern currencies of all countries in the world. Futhermore，Mr. Chin founded his own company“Coin in Coin”（广银阁）in 1994，and now the company has become a leader of China's modern gold and silver coin market, and also has a great influence on the whole collection market. Mr.Chin focused on collecting and studying the "old，exquisite，scarce" coins that were issued before 2000.

Although I meet Mr.Chin only once，He gives me the impression that he is an affable、easy-going and approachable man to deal with.This article is an essence of “Unicorn”gold coins and deserve to recommend，Thanks for sharing!

庄主

Good introduction for the unicorn series coins, the Qilin series coins also include platinum coins and bi-metal coins. Bi-metal unicorn coins include only 1994 edition and 1995 edition, and the sample edition of 1996 bi-metal unicorn appeared in the SBP2017 in hongkong. There are 5 editions for the platinum unicorn coins, 1995-half Oz, 1996 1/20Oz, 1996 1/4Oz, 1996 1Oz and 1997 1Oz, the 1997 edition is the most valuable one.

buychina

Chinese unicorn coin brings back a whole lot of memory of good old days. It was issued starting from 1994, the year I arrived in Boston, MA. With limited stipend of research fellowship, I was able to procure some of the unicorn coins. I still have those coins in my collection. I wish I could have more resource then so I could buy bigger gold unicorn coin. If that happened, I could retire right now.