China's lunar silver program has issued Ox coins across multiple cycles, but the 2009 issue falls in the second cycle of the twelve-year series, which the People's Bank launched with considerably higher mintage ceilings than the now-legendary first-cycle issues from the 1980s. The first-cycle 1985 Ox remains the benchmark against which all subsequent issues in the series are measured — original mintages were so low that secondary market premiums have never fully corrected.
The 2009 issue was also produced alongside a gold counterpart, part of the PBC's strategy of issuing bimetallic lunar sets aimed squarely at the international collector market.
China's lunar silver program has issued Ox coins across multiple cycles, but the 2009 issue falls in the second cycle of the twelve-year series, which the People's Bank launched with considerably higher mintage ceilings than the now-legendary first-cycle issues from the 1980s. The first-cycle 1985 Ox remains the benchmark against which all subsequent issues in the series are measured — original mintages were so low that secondary market premiums have never fully corrected.
The 2009 issue was also produced alongside a gold counterpart, part of the PBC's strategy of issuing bimetallic lunar sets aimed squarely at the international collector market.