In 1998 China had 13 nature reserves for giant pandas, and by 2006 there were already 40. In eight years the number of reserves more than tripled. All lie in the mountain forests of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, the only places where pandas live in the wild. The date 1998 appears on this souvenir «30 yuan» panda token.

This is a private souvenir, not a coin of the People’s Bank of China; the token has no legal tender status.

UNC condition: the token never circulated. Relief and field are untouched by wear. It fits a year-by-year run of souvenir «pandas» from the 1980s and 1990s, or works as a keepsake gift in its own right.

The VPcoins catalogue brings together coins, banknotes, medals and other numismatic items from around the world.