1993 1/2oz .999 Gold Panda Coin Pendant with Rope Bezel in 14k Yellow Gold

A 1993 China Gold Panda — 50 yuan, one half troy ounce of .999 fine gold, the weight and fineness struck into the face beside a panda seated on a rock among bamboo, with the Temple of Heaven and the date on the other side — held in a four-tab 14k yellow gold rope bezel with a plain bail. The coin shows light handling in the fields. 18.66 grams in all: 15.55 grams of pure gold in the coin and about 3.1 grams of 14k in the bezel and bail.

Most gold sits in a safe. This is half an ounce of it you can wear, with the proof stamped on its face — .999, 1/2 oz — so nobody has to take your word for it. The Panda series has been the collector’s gold coin since 1982 because the design changes every year, which makes a 1993 exactly that: a year, held in gold, on a chain. For someone born that year it is the kind of gift that gets kept. What else are you going to give them that is worth more the day they open it?