5 Yuan Acrobatics

Part of a long-running Chinese silver commemorative series celebrating traditional performing arts, the Acrobatics issues of the 1990s were produced by the China Mint for collector export as much as domestic sale — hard currency generation was an explicit function of the commemorative program throughout this period. Mintages were tightly controlled and distributed primarily through overseas dealers and state-run philatelic and numismatic agencies.

The .900 fineness is atypical for Chinese commemoratives of this era, which more commonly used .999 silver. Worth noting for attribution purposes.