In 1981, China began minting coins to commemorate the Chinese New Year. The Chinese lunar series consist of gold, silver and platinum coins, in a variety of sizes, denominations and shapes. The reverse of each coin depicts the zodiac animal for the corresponding year of issue, while the obverse features an historical building or other notable cultural image.
The size, mintage, metal content and even face value changed, throughout the first series. This is a reflection of China's gradual adoption of the ounce over the metric gram in line with international bullion standards and China's improving economic conditions and technological advances.
From 1981 to 1987, the obverse and reverse of the 8 g gold coin were the same as that of the 15 g silver coin. The exception being in 1985, when the reverse differed. 1987 seems to be special:
(1) both the 5 oz. silver lunar coin and the 5 oz. silver panda coin were debuted,
(2) the 5 oz. silver lunar coin was the first of the series to be over 99% pure silver, and
(3) the 5 oz. silver coin had a face value of 50 yuan, even though it contained over 10 times as much silver as the 15 g silver coin, which had a face value of 10 yuan.
In 1988, the first platinum lunar coin was introduced and the number of different lunar coins exploded when the Shanghai Mint began minting a different set of lunar coins. In total, there were 4 different designs: the 5 oz coins featured triple dragons and the 15 g and 8 g coins each featured a different dragon; the Shanghai Mint coins featured double dragon reverses.
All coins minted by the Shenyang mint, unless noted with an "SH", which indicates that it was minted by the Shanghai mint. The size, mintage and face values are listed to illustrate the numerous changing standards in the first lunar series.
| Year | !style="background:#efefef;" | Animal | !style="background:#efefef;" | Silver Coins (mintage) | !style="background:#efefef;" | Gold Coins (mintage) | !style="background:#efefef;" | Platinum Coins (mintage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Rooster | 15 g, 33 mm, 30 CNY (10,000) | 8 g, 23 mm, 250 CNY (5,000) | |||||
| 1982 | Dog | 15 g, 33 mm, 20 CNY (15,000) | 8 g, 23 mm, 200 CNY (5,000) | |||||
| 1983 | Pig | 15 g, 33 mm, 10 CNY (10,000) | 8 g, 23 mm, 150 CNY (5,000) | |||||
| 1984 | Rat | |||||||
| 1985 | Ox | |||||||
| 1986 | Tiger | 15 g 33 mm 10 CNY (15,000) | ||||||
| 1987 | Rabbit | 15 g, 33 mm, 10 CNY (15,000) 5 oz, 70 mm, 50 CNY (4,000) | ||||||
| 1988 | Dragon | 15 g, 33 mm, 10 CNY (15,000) 1 oz, 32 mm, 10 CNY SH (20,000) 5 oz, 70mm, 50 CNY (5,000) 12 oz, 80 mm, 100 CNY SH (3,000) | 8 g, 23 mm, 150 CNY (7,500) 1 oz, 32 mm, 100 CNY SH (3,000) 5 oz, 60 mm, 500 CNY (3,000) 12 oz, 1,000 CNY SH (500) | 1 oz, 32 mm, 100 CNY SH (2,000) | ||||
| 1989 | Snake | 15 g, 33 mm, 10 CNY (15,000) 1 oz, 32 mm, 10 CNY SH (6,000) 5 oz, 70 mm, 50 CNY (1,000) 12 oz, 80 mm, 100 CNY SH (400) | 8 g, 23 mm, 150 CNY (7,500) 1 oz, 32 mm, 100 CNY SH (3,000) 5 oz, 60 mm, 500 CNY (500) 12 oz, 70 mm, 1,000 CNY SH (200) | 1 oz, 32 mm, 100 CNY SH (1,000) | ||||
| 1990 | Horse | 15 g, 33 mm, 10CNY (15,000) 1 oz, 32 mm, 10 CNY SH (12,000) 5 oz, 70 mm, 50 CNY (2,000) 12 oz, 80 mm, 100 CNY SH (1,000) | 8 g, 23 mm, 150 CNY (7,500) 1 oz, 32 mm, 100 CNY SH (6,000) 5 oz, 60 mm, 500 CNY (500) 12 oz, 70 mm, 1,000 CNY SH (200?) | 1 oz, 32 mm, 100 CNY SH (2,000) | ||||
| 1991 | Goat | 15 g, 33 mm, 10 CNY (15,000) 1 oz, 32 mm, 10 CNY SH (8,100) 5 oz, 70 mm, 50 CNY (2,000) 12 oz, 80 mm, 100 CNY SH (1,000) | 8 g, 23 mm, 150 CNY (7,500) 1 oz, 32 mm, 100 CNY SH (1,900) 5 oz, 60 mm, 500 CNY (400) 12 oz, 70 mm, 1,000 CNY SH (200) | 1 oz, 32 mm, 100 CNY SH (500) | ||||
| 1992 | Monkey | 15 g, 33 mm, 10 CNY (10,000) 1 oz, 32 mm, 10 CNY SH (8,100) 5 oz, 70 mm, 50 CNY (1,000) 12 oz, 80 mm, 100 CNY SH (500) | 8 g, 23 mm, 150 CNY (5,000) 1 oz, 32 mm, 100 CNY SH (1,900) 5 oz, 60 mm, 500 CNY (99) 12 oz, 70 mm, 1,000 CNY SH (99) | 1 oz, 32 mm, 100 CNY SH (300) |
These were minted as 1 oz silver, but were 32 mm in diameter, instead of the standard 40 mm. This increased the thickness in the style of a piedfort coin.
Mintage: 6,800 each
Mintage: 2,300 each
Mintage: 60,000 each
Mintage: 8,000 each
Mintage: 66,000 each
Mintage: 6,600 each