1000 Yuan Year of the Rat

The 1996 Chinese Lunar Gold series sat at the premium end of the People's Bank of China's bullion program, which by the mid-1990s had become a significant hard currency earner as foreign collectors drove demand well beyond domestic interest. At 12 troy ounces, this is among the largest denominations in the annual Lunar issue — a size tier the mint reserved for prestige export pieces rather than anything approaching genuine circulation.

The Rat is the first sign of the twelve-year cycle, a fact that historically inflates collector premiums on this date relative to mid-cycle years.