10 Yuan Sika Deer

Issued as part of China's expanding commemorative silver program in the late 1980s, this piece belongs to a run of wildlife-themed issues produced when the People's Bank was actively courting the international collector market — a deliberate strategy following China's reopening and its growing presence at major coin shows in Europe and North America. The sika deer, native to much of East Asia and already endangered across significant portions of its Chinese range by 1989, was selected partly for its conservation symbolism and partly for its strong appeal to Japanese buyers, for whom the species carries deep cultural resonance.