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Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+) — ping test & specs

China's modern lunar-zodiac silver coin is the round 30 g, 40 mm .999 issue (2016+). Note: this reference is for the ROUND coin only — the blossom-shaped 30 g variant vibrates completely differently.

Opens the free tester with this coin preselected — audio never leaves your device.

Official specifications

Weight30 g
Diameter40 mm
Composition.999 fine silver

Source: China Gold Coin Corporation. Coin Pinger checks measured weight and diameter against these values.

Expected resonance range

High confidence*
ModeExpected ringRecommended variance
c0d23.52–4.17 kHz±8.5%
c0d38.17–9.58 kHz±7.9%
c0d414.26–16.71 kHz±7.9%

A genuine Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+) rings within these ranges at its c0d2/c0d3/c0d4 vibration modes, fixed by its size and metal. The recommended variance is how far a genuine specimen's ring can sit from each center — built up in quadrature from real manufacturing tolerance and temperature (under 1%), phone-mic capture reproducibility (≈4%), an extra allowance on the fundamental for minting-asymmetry splitting, and a per-metal model-uncertainty term (largest for .9999 gold, whose modulus is least certain). This coin's band is widened further because the issue is struck at slightly varying thickness across years. The higher modes also carry a small thick-plate centre correction, since a real coin is not infinitely thin. The high-confidence tag reflects how well-established this metal's constants are: Computed from well-established silver elastic constants and cross-checked against same-size sibling coins. These are guidance bands, not exact values — see the methodology for the exact formula, or calibrate your own coin in the app for a specimen-exact reference and tighten each peak per coin.

* These are computed guidance ranges. Certain your Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+) is genuine but it won't match? Send us its ring — we'll dig in and improve the reference.

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How to ping test a Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+)

  1. Hold — grip the coin by its center (a nodal point) in a coin ping-test holder so the rim rings freely; a fingertip at the center is a last resort.
  2. Tap — strike the edge with a striker near the microphone.
  3. Read the verdict — MATCH or NO MATCH against the peaks above, plus weight and size checks.

Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+) — frequently asked

How much does a Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+) weigh?

The official specification is 30 g in .999 fine silver (source: China Gold Coin Corporation). Coin Pinger's weight check allows ±0.3 g by default.

What size is a Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+)?

40 mm in diameter, per China Gold Coin Corporation. Note the average disc thickness is less than the rim caliper reading — the raised rim and relief concentrate metal at the edge.

What frequency does a genuine Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+) ring at?

Its fundamental (c0d2) vibration mode is computed to ring in the 3.52–4.17 kHz range, with higher modes near 8.17–9.58 kHz and 14.26–16.71 kHz. These are first-principles physics computations from the coin's published mass, diameter, and metal — not measurements of sample coins.

Why does my genuine Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+) ring slightly off the listed frequencies?

The Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+) is struck at slightly varying thickness across years, and frequency scales directly with thickness — so genuine specimens from different years ring at measurably different pitches. Phone-mic capture adds a few percent more tap-to-tap spread. That's why this reference band is wider than average.

Does ping testing damage a Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+)?

No — the test needs only a light tap on the edge with a non-marring striker (a wooden pencil or plastic stylus works well), far gentler than normal handling. Hold the coin at its center so the rim can ring freely.

Related silver coins

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The physics of the Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+) ping

Those 3 peaks aren't random. When you strike the coin it flexes as a free disc in fixed patterns called vibration modes — 0 nodal circles with 2, 3 and 4 nodal diameters, written c0d2 / c0d3 / c0d4. Each pattern rings at one frequency.

Where those frequencies land is set by the coin's geometry and metal. For a thin disc, frequency ∝ (thickness ÷ diameter²) × √(stiffness ÷ density). This Silver Chinese Lunar 30 g (2016+) spreads 30 g of .999 fine silver across 40 mm — an effective disc thickness of about 2.3 mm once the raised rim and relief are averaged out — which puts its fundamental (c0d2) near 3845 Hz.

An ideal thin disc's modes sit at fixed, geometry-only ratios: 1 : 2.33 : 4.11. A real coin isn't infinitely thin — shear in the metal drags the higher modes slightly below the ideal — so this coin's computed reference lands at 1 : 2.31 : 4.03. Spacing near those ratios is the fingerprint of a struck disc, and Coin Pinger rejects taps that don't fit it (keys, glass, a coin lying on a hard surface).

And it's why a fake can't hide: change the metal and √(E/ρ) changes, so every mode moves. Struck in lead or a plated base metal instead, the ring would land far lower and die out with a dull, short thud — its c0d2 would land near ≈1700 Hz instead of 3845 Hz. Density can fool a scale; the ring can't be faked without the right metal.

We publish this as a High confidence reference. Computed from well-established silver elastic constants and cross-checked against same-size sibling coins.

Free-plate modes per A. W. Leissa, Vibration of Plates, NASA SP-160 (1969, public domain). See how we measure them →