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Crash
Penny Pincher Member
USA
155 Posts |
 Posted - 01/16/2008 : 09:03:07
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My brother lives in Shanghai, China and on Friday I'm taking some vacation time to visit him. While I'm there, I plan on picking up a few silver Panda's if I run across any. I've read that the pearl & jade market's in Shanghai are remarkable, but alot of fakes are for sale as well. I'd like to purchase both, but I have no idea how to tell what's real or fake. I know this question isn't related to bullion but does anyone out there have any advice on how I can tell what's real or not? Also, does anyone know what other coins or metal I should look for? Any advice is welcome. I apologize in advance if this queation is too off topic for this forum.
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El Dee
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
547 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2008 : 09:30:43
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| Call around to a gem shop or jeweler before you go. Stop in and pick the guy's brain. He might be interested that you are going to China and give you helpful hints. |
Trust the government? Ask an Indian. |
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El Dee
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
547 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2008 : 09:38:31
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| Also, don't buy any gold US coins. They'll all be fake. |
Trust the government? Ask an Indian. |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2008 : 09:39:39
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I'll see if I can dig up my info on Chinese fakes....it's somewhere around here........
What I can tell you with certainty right now is that it is very difficult to tell the fakes from the real Pandas. Prices will be steep, but since you'll be in Shanghai, they won't be as bad as they would be elsewhere.
Real silver Pandas are issued in a hard plastic holder, which is then placed inside a soft plastic holder. The soft plastic holder is quite thick, and the fakes sometimes come in a thinner plastic holder. This is no guanantee, however.
I'll try to get back to you with more info later..... |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
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Crash
Penny Pincher Member
USA
155 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2008 : 11:49:23
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| Thanks El Dee & Fiatboy. The pictures really help. It looks like the characters on the real are smaller & much more defined. I had no idea what to look for. |
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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1641 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2008 : 12:15:21
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| Are the fakes make out of pure silver too? If no, I would think that a gram scale, a pair of calipers, and a set of coin specifications should cover you. Correct me if I am wrong but I would think that it is pretty hard to get both the dimensions and the weight correct in a fake that has used substituted metals. So worst case scenario, you get a fake made of pure silver... |
Edited by - horgad on 01/16/2008 12:17:33 |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2008 : 13:38:00
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Most of the fakes are NOT silver, but the good ones are. I've seen both, and if you have any experience handling silver, the non-silver fakes will be easy to spot. The real silver fakes are very difficult to spot.
My advice? Don't buy any coins from street vendors, souvenir shops, or other places that cater to tourists. If you're staying in a classy hotel, ask the concierge where the high-end precious metals and coin shops are. Try to find out where the locals shop. Fakes abound, but with some common sense, you should have no problem finding some authentic pandas.
btw, will you be going to China soon? What a trip it'll be!  Enjoy yourself! It's a very different world over there! |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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Crash
Penny Pincher Member
USA
155 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2008 : 15:03:05
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quote:
btw, will you be going to China soon? What a trip it'll be! Enjoy yourself! It's a very different world over there!
Thanks, Fiatboy. I'm leaving Friday morning. I can't wait! It'll be my first trip out of the country since I was a little kid. I'm staying with my brother who teaches English at one of the universities in Shanghai. From the pictures that he's sent it looks sort of like an asian flared scene out of "Bladerunner". |
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pencilvanian
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2209 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2008 : 15:43:37
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Try to pick up any cheap brass nick-nacks you see. China may need copper for building its infrastructure but cheap brass items made from left over copper scrap might be cheap from a copper price standpoint.
Take along a magnet or buy one in China to test for iron content.
China also used to have coins with the symbol of a dragon on them. These were made in silver and copper. The silver ones are heavily counterfieted but I am not sure anyone has bothered to make fake copper ones.
Last and most important point:
Make sure you can actually take your metal purchases home with you!
It would be terrible beyind words to be forced to leave your precious metals behind due to some obscure law concerning tourists taking silver or gold with them on the return flight. |
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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2008 : 15:45:26
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| Not off topic at all Crash. In fact, we need more like it. |
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Think positive. |
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Crash
Penny Pincher Member
USA
155 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2008 : 13:14:00
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| Thanks for the input, evereybody. I'll let you know if can score any good deals. I'm off! |
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Crash
Penny Pincher Member
USA
155 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2008 : 09:22:03
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| I made it back! Unfortunately, I never found any Silver Panda's, but I did see a lot of paople trying to sell old coins that they claimed to be silver. They went through a huge production trying to convince me that the coins were silver by ringing them together. If I could have bargained them down lower, maybe I would have bought them. I did by a couple of brass nicknacks like a Tibetan prayer bowl, a Buddhist dagger & some lions, but I overpaid for them. You have to bargain for everthing on the street and the merchants always start with an outrageous price. It was fun at first but soon I grew really tired of having to do it. Plus I had to do it in the freezing cold, so I couldn't wait to get inside. I left Friday & I'm lucky I got back when I did. Right now, China is a frozen wasteland & Shanghai's airport closed Sunday. My brother said the streets have 3 inches of sludge & ice. I'm not sorry I'm missing it. It was an interesting trip. It's made me appreciate the U.S. more than I did before. |
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starwarsgeek171
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
651 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2008 : 15:15:52
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It's strange. As imperfect as America is, you always appreciate coming home. Only exception for me = Switzerland! The land where gold is sold in almost every bank (the way it should be).
China must have been quite an experience. I have never been in Asia. |
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pencilvanian
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2209 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2008 : 15:58:27
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I hope you enjoyed your trip, Crash, even if you didn't buy any silver coins (or so-called silver coins. And here I thought only vacation spots in the US had tourist trap type stuff for sale.)
Those brass nicknacks sound interesting. Any chance of posting their images on the forum? |
Edited by - pencilvanian on 01/30/2008 16:00:39 |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2008 : 21:57:18
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Glad you're back safely, Crash! If you're still looking for a Silver Panda, send me a PM and maybe we can work something out. Mine's real silver, you can be assured!
quote:
It's strange. As imperfect as America is, you always appreciate coming home. Only exception for me = Switzerland!
Agreed! As much as I see the USA as a hypocritical empire rotting from the inside, I am always really happy to return. I mean that. I'm very disheartened by the direction of this country, but I've really learned to appreciate how much opportunity is still here.
Then there's Switzerland---a truly spectacular place. I lived there for a little while and was astounded every second I was there. I swear, walking the streets of Zurich, I sometimes felt magic in the air. |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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n/a
deleted
192 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2008 : 22:21:35
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The hills are alive with the sound of music.
I went to Zurich as a tourist.
First thing I saw in the airport was an orthodox jewish guy with curls hangs from each temple.
Then, I saw the best accordian player I've ever seen.
He played classical "pop" like Handel's Massiah and Beethoven's fifth. I've never seen street music of that range and caliber. I was so impressed then, that I'm telling you about it now!
I wish that every african kid with flies trying to eat his skin, and every cambodian grandma with osthoporosis and every fat woman in an suv in Dallas could live like the Swiss.
I wish I could live like the Swiss.
I wish every human being could live that way.
I had a Swiss roommate back in my ski-bum days.
I asked her outright, "why is Switzerland rich?"
She said, in her typically Swiss manner,
"I'll give that some serious thought before I answer."
A week later, after talking to her mother and her brother and her boyfriend (my american friend, who had lived in Switerland) she comes up to me and says,
" you asked why the Swiss are rich, and I now have an opinion to share with you."
I said, Please do!!
She said,
(as best as I can re-construct and paraphrase after all these years)
"We Swiss do not change our laws every time someone new is elected.
We Swiss do not change our interests rates every time the market goes up or down.
We Swiss do not change the way we make watches and microscopes unless there is an improvement to be made.
If there is no improvement to be made, we do not tolerate change for its own sake."
I said,
"wow, thanks!" |
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The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.
John Maynard Keynes,
English economist (1883 - 1946)
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Gresham
Penny Pincher Member
184 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2008 : 22:43:24
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| Perhaps you are "happy" to return to the hypocrytical empire, because the brainwashing that you recieve everyday is working. I would rather live in a poor country with little oportunity where people minded there own business and the government left you alone. |
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Crash
Penny Pincher Member
USA
155 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2008 : 09:32:46
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quote:
Those brass nicknacks sound interesting. Any chance of posting their images on the forum?
Yes. I'll give it the old college try. I'm at work right now & my digital camara is at home. I've never uploaded pictures but I think the items are pretty cool. I did purchase a coin at the top of the Jin Mao Tower which they claimed to be silver plated over a copper core. I'm not sure how much it weighs, but I paid about $7.50 for it. If Ican't figure out how to upload the pictures I'll get the IT guy here to help. |
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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1641 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2008 : 12:15:06
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"why is Switzerland rich?"
Yeah the Swiss are renowned for having one the most fiscally minded and disciplined monetary systems in the world, but even they have been slipping a bit and printing too much in recent years. No doubt they are still one of the best, but that is not saying much these days. If you had to keep your money in one fiat currency and limiting risk was your biggest concern, a Swiss account would be the way to go. Now if you got to choose between Swiss francs and gold, that would be a much harder decision... IMHO |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2008 : 12:31:45
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quote:
"why is Switzerland rich?"
Yeah the Swiss are renowned for having one the most fiscally minded and disciplined monetary systems in the world, but even they have been slipping a bit and printing too much in recent years. No doubt they are still one of the best, but that is not saying much these days. If you had to keep your money in one fiat currency and limiting risk was your biggest concern, a Swiss account would be the way to go. Now if you got to choose between Swiss francs and gold, that would be a much harder decision... IMHO
You're right, horgad. This Swiss monetary system has been amazingly stable and disciplined for an incredibly long time. I was onboard with my Swiss Francs until they dropped their gold backing a few years ago. For me, the choice now would be easy: I'd choose gold over the Franc. But if I had to hold one fiat currency for the long run, it'd be the Franc.
The EU wants them to join and adopt the Euro. I hope they holdout and keep the Franc forever---someone has to, now that the French have dropped it! The impression I got when I was living there was, "We're Swiss, why would we want to join a poor man's club like the European Union?" |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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Crash
Penny Pincher Member
USA
155 Posts |
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NotABigDeal
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2008 : 17:33:13
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Thank you for showing the pictures. Nice stuff.
Deal |
Live free or die.
Plain and simple.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your council or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
- Samuel Adams |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2008 : 18:39:06
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| Thanks for sharing, Crash. |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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Crash
Penny Pincher Member
USA
155 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2008 : 11:15:32
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| I'm heading back to Shanghai on Friday. I'm eager to see if I can barter my way to some better prices. This time, I'm taking a side trip to a city called Hangzhou the place where Marco Polo supposedly went. I noticed today that $1=6.99RMB's which is .20 less than when I visited in January. |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2008 : 12:59:11
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| Have fun on your trip and stretch that dollar for all it's worth! |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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Topic |
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Trip advice
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