Peter Anthony:1988 gave Panda collectors their first 12 oz. 100 Yuan silver coin. There had been a 12 oz. silver Medal struck for the 1986 Hong Kong Coin Expo but this is the first coin. Yu Min, the artist who created the most Pandas in their history so far, designed the 1988 100 Yuan silver Panda. It features a quite realistic pair of young Pandas climbing among the treetops. The same design was used for the 1988 12 oz. 1000 Yuan gold Panda. The official mintage is 5,000. The most common grade, by a slight margin, is Proof-69 so the typical coin is pretty high quality. While this first of the 12 oz. silver Pandas is less rare than the later dates in the 1990’s it is quite beautiful and is hardly a common coin, either.