Description

Consisting of twelve animals, the Chinese zodiac first appeared in the 5^th century B.C., during the Zhan Guo period.  The zodiac became a popular way to determine a person’s birth year and is still used today.

The zodiac was based on Chinese astrology and was used as a way to count years, months, days, and hours in the calendar. It was formed from two components: the Celestial Stem and the Terrestrial Branch. Each of the 12 animals stands for a year in a 12-year cycle, a day in the 12-day cycle, and for every two hours in a 24-hour day. These were used to name each year along with the animal signs, but now they mainly just use the dates.

Zodiac Animal	Recent Years	Personality Traits
Rat	1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020	Quick-witted, resourceful, versatile, kind
Ox	1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021	Diligent, dependable, strong, determined
Tiger	1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022	Brave, confident, competitive
Rabbit	1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023	Quiet, elegant, kind, responsible
Dragon	1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024	Confident, intelligent, enthusiastic
Snake	1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025	Enigmatic, intelligent, wise
Horse	1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026	Animated, active, energetic
Goat	1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027	Calm, gentle, sympathetic
Monkey	1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028	Sharp, smart, curiosity
Rooster	1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029	Observant, hardworking, courageous
Dog	1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030	Lovely, honest, prudent
Pig	1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031	Compassionate, generous, diligent

• Contains 2 Troy Ounce .999 Fine Silver
• Obverse: “THE YEAR OF THE PIG” across the top circumference with “2019” along the bottom, with intricate Asian style scroll background surrounding a scene of a mother pig in a natural habitat snuggling with her piglet.
  
• Reverse: The common reverse for the series, it includes which includes all of the different creatures of the zodiac around the outer circumference with their Chinese language representation immediately above each and a Yin and Yang symbol in the center.  Hallmark at 6’oclock.