China’s Olympic Currency

Hong Kong’s Olympic Currency

China Version

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank, is to issue a commemorative bank note with a face value of 10 yuan ($1.46) from Tuesday to mark the Beijing Olympic Games, the bank said in a statement on Sunday.

The PBOC said it would issue a total of 6 million such notes, which would be circulated in the currency market with the same denomination as the ordinary 10-yuan notes.

The new note, in cyan, is 148.5 millimeters long and 72 millimeters wide, according to the central bank. While the ordinary 10-yuan notes are in cobalt black, 140 millimeters long and 70 millimeters wide.

On one side is a picture of the National Stadium, or the Bird’s Nest, the main venue for the Games in August. Above the picture is the emblem of the Beijing Games, “Chinese Seal, Dancing Beijing”. The picture of national stadium and the emblem are both set against the backdrop of the Temple of Heaven, one of the country’s best-known landmarks.

This takes the place of the portrait of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong and China’s national emblem on the ordinary 10-yuan notes. (Mao Zedong is not featured in these new notes, which make it so ever special to be the first notes to not have him in it)

The other side features the famous ancient Greek marble statue of a discus-thrower, Discobolus, portraits of athletes and the Arabic numeral “2008″.

These replace the drawing of the scenic Three Gorges, but the name of the PBOC in Chinese pinyin, Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur and Zhuang, remains in the top right corner.

The central bank also said it incorporated watermarks and other technologies to prevent counterfeiting of the notes.

A clear watermark appears on the picture of the National Stadium in the shape of the Arabic numeral “10″ and the Games of XXIX Olympiad in the Chinese characters, said the bank.

[from ChinaDaily]

Hong Kong Version

Hong Kong’s newest banknotes probably won’t see much circulation.

It’s more likely they’ll be framed or placed between two clear, plastic sheets.

That’s because they’re limited edition collectibles commemorating the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

The Hong Kong notes will be available to the public on Wednesday at designated Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) branches.

A total of 4 million notes were made, and 3.76 million will be sold in Hong Kong at prices ranging from HK$138 to HK$1,338. The remainder will be available in Macao and overseas.

“The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is a momentous international event that all Chinese will be proud of,” he said Friday. “We share the pride with all Hong Kong citizens.”

* Radiant Joy (Single HKD Note) at HKD138 per set (that is a nearly seven time mark-up!);
* Triumphant Spirit (4-in-1 Uncut HKD Notes) at HKD338 per set;
* Brilliant Jubilation (35-in-1 Uncut HKD Notes) at HKD1,388 per set;
* Harmonious Union (a package of one HKD Note and one MOP Note) at HKD268 per set; and
* United Pleasure (a package of 4-in-1 Uncut HKD Notes and 4-in-1 Uncut MOP Notes) at HKD868 per set.


The notes will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis at the branches. Each person will be limited to purchasing one set of each type, per visit.

Ann Kung, head of channel management at BOCHK, said that each designated outlet bank will sell 1,000 single notes, but the bank may adjust the sales quantity of the single notes depending on demand.

All the notes will be sold randomly, meaning customers won’t be allowed to select designated serial numbers, she said.

The front of the banknote features the remains of the ancient Olympic stadium, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games’ emblem and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong. On the back is the Beijing Olympic Stadium, known as the “Bird’s Nest”.

It shares the same color and size as the HK$20 note issued by BOCHK in 2003. The new banknote also incorporates new security features, such as bright-and-highlighted watermarks and color-changing windowed thread.

The issuer indicated that the banknote may not be accepted by vending and ticketing machines. BOCHK will only exchange it according to its face value.

[from ChinaDaily]

And the queues that comes with such limited items….

These are nice little collectibles items and i think it will be really valuable after a few years. This is due to the super limited prints of the currency.(only 1 in 200 people in China will be able to get 1 10 yuan note!)

You can get them on Ebay. Caution though, the bidding war is rather intense, and thus the price is rather high.