50 Yuan Panda

China's Panda gold series launched in 1982 with a design change policy that became its defining commercial hook — the reverse image updates annually, making each year a discrete collectible rather than a continuous type. The 1989 issue arrived during one of the most politically volatile years in the People's Republic's history; the Tiananmen Square crackdown in June of that year had no effect on mint operations, but substantially disrupted Western distribution networks, leaving some allocations stranded mid-shipment.

KM#226 is the 15.55g half-ounce denomination, distinguishable from the superficially similar quarter-ounce 25 Yuan piece primarily by weight rather than visual design scale.