p>Peter Anthony: The 1999 100 Yuan 1 oz. gold Large Date Panda Plain 1 is another scarce coin. 1999 gold Panda coins were caught in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. Demand for gold Pandas plummeted and many were melted. As a consequence mintages that year were limited and few are available for collectors today. 1999 is a notable year for another reason; it is the only year in which all Pandas were struck in three different mints. There are three major varieties of the 1999 gold Pandas: Small Date, Large Date Plain 1 and Large Date Serif 1. The 1999 100 Yuan gold Large Date Plain 1 is a Shenyang Mint coin. It is not hard to tell apart from the others; the numerals of both of the Large Dates are much larger than those of the Small Date. The Large Date Plain 1 also has a longer angled serif on the top of the numeral 1 of the date. The total mintage for all three 1999 100 Yuan varieties is 32,439. It’s clear that far fewer than that exist in B.U. condition today. The Large Date Plain 1 variety is the most relatively common of the three varieties, but is still a scarce coin.
About half of the 1999 100 Yuan Large Date Plain 1 Pandas graded achieve the MS-69 level. Red spots are a common problem on unconserved 1999 gold Pandas. The head, body and rock are the places most likely to show wear or rub.
The 1999 100 Yuan Large Date Panda Plain 1 gold Panda is part of three NGC Registry sets: "Gold 1 Ounce Panda, 1983-Date, Mint State," "Gold 1 Ounce Panda, 1983-Date, Mint State (Incl. Varieties)" and "Gold 1 Ounce Panda, 1983-Date, Mint State and Proof."