10 Yuan Forbidden City - Garden

The Forbidden City silver series ran through much of the 1990s, issued by the People's Bank of China as part of a broader push into the commemorative bullion market aimed primarily at overseas collectors. Mintages were tightly controlled and the coins were rarely, if ever, spent domestically — the face value was essentially symbolic against the silver content alone.

The 1997 issue carries additional weight as a collectible given its release year: Hong Kong's handover to the PRC on July 1st made 1997 Chinese numismatic output particularly attractive to the international market, driving secondary demand well above comparable years in the same series.