world polymer: China

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27 January, 2025

...China - 20 Yuan 蛇年 Commemorative Year of the Snake 2025 萬家慶豐年

中华人民共和国

(中華人民共和國)

(Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó)

(People's Republic of China)

中国人民银行 (中國人民銀行)

(Zhōngguó Rénmín Yínháng / People's Bank of China)

Currency : Renminbi 人民币 (CNY)

蛇🐍年

29 January 2025 to 17 February 2026 (384 days)

On 09.01.2024, China issued the first of the 12 commemorative notes celebrating the Chinese New Year Zodiac series - the Year of the Dragon. On 03.01.2025, the central bank released the second polymer commemorative note of the new year series celebrating the Year of the Snake.

It is unclear when the origins of the Chinese zodiac system first started, but it is believed this tradition was first established during the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE).

The Year of the Snake commences on 29.01.2025 and will end on 17.02.2026. In total, there are 384 days for the Year of the Snake and this is because it is a leap year in the Chinese calendar (13 months). People who are born in the Year of the Snake are said to be wise, enigmatic, and sympathetic. Are there any politicians born in the Year of the Snake?

In China, the new year public holidays commencing from 28.01.2025 to 03.02.2025, and as the tradition goes, many people who are working away from their hometown will be traveling back to their home to have a family reunion dinner on new year eve and welcome the new year with family and friends the next day.

The theme design for this note is similar to the 2024 Dragon note. Both notes are printed with a Zodiac animal respectively and on the back featuring three children welcoming the new year. Whilst the format is the same, one most noticeable difference is the denomination value (20贰拾圆) on the from. For this series, it is printed on the left, instead on the right. This note is printed with a "J" prefix, followed by 9 digits. Traditionally, the prefix "J" is reserved for all commemorative banknote series. It is also believed that only one letter prefix is printed. Like the first series of the Dragon note, this Snake note is also printed in vertical format on the front and back, and maintains some of the features of the Dragon note. Also as this note is for the celebration of the Year of the Snake, the artistic/ancient word "Fu" (福) on the bottom transparent window, which can be seen on either side of the note has also been altered. The word 福 is made out from two symbols. The left symbol of "礻" has been modified to look like an image of a snake, just like the 2024 Dragon note.

A total of 100 million pieces were issued for this series, and all sold out. These notes were sold at face value via online application, and all sold out within minutes. Each person is allowed to purchase up to 20 pieces. Despite such restrictions, there are people selling them with stock in excess of 20 pieces. Given such a high demand, I wonder if any of these ended up in red packets? Traditionally, giving out cash is still the preferred option then buying gifts for the new year celebration. Cash is (always) king!

After this, ten more to go!

Twenty Yuan

Signature - Bank square seal

Date - 2025年

Quantity - 100 million pieces

Dimensions - 70mm x 145mm

Front - An image of an embroidered snake in red, green and black colours in a coiled up position. I am not sure if there is any meaning to this or just an artist's impression. On the head of the snake is an image of a flying bat and a heart/fan shape pattern at the end of the snake's tail. In ancient China, bats (蝙蝠) were considered auspicious, and were often used in patterns to represent good fortune and longevity. To the Chinese, the second word 蝠 (fu) is homophonous with the Chinese word for 'blessing; good fortune; and bliss'. Also the snake is holding an object in it's mouth, and I have been told by a collector that it is a Ganoderma, a kind of mushroom (Lingzhi in Chinese). It is believed in Chinese culture, symbolising divine power and longevity. The Chinese Coat of Arms is printed on the top left corner. Generally speaking, the design for this note is not overcrowded nor incorporated with other features other than those intended for this festive celebration. The predominately colour for this note is red, which is always associated with auspicious occasions, such as new year celebration, weddings, birthdays, birth of a child or any occasions that would bring a smile to their faces.

Back - Three children putting up an auspicious Spring Festival couplet. Whilst the boy in the middle is holding up the couplet, the girl to his left is holding up a bowl of glue (presumably) and to his right is a boy handing out a brush to apply the glue onto the wall. I believe the five characters written on the couplet are - 萬家慶豐年 (Thousand families celebrating new year). Traditionally, couplets with various auspicious words are hung around the house during the new year celebration. Here are some of Cantonese popular couplets - 新年快樂, 入出安全, 老少平安, 大吉大利, 年年有餘, 龍馬精神 and if you are self employed - 生意興隆 which I think is the most important one, and so on. Of course there are no limitations to what you can put up and it's only up to your own imaginations. In the background are residential buildings from Shanxi Province in central north China (near Beijing).

rat ox tiger rabbit dragon SNAKE horse goat monkey rooster dog pig

09 February, 2024

...China - 20 Yuan 龙(龍)年 Commemorative Year of the Dragon 2024

中华人民共和国

(中華人民共和國)

(Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó)

(People's Republic of China)

中国人民银行 (中國人民銀行)

(Zhōngguó Rénmín Yínháng / People's Bank of China)
Currency : Renminbi 人民币 (CNY)

龙(龍)🐉年

10 February 2024 to 28 January 2025 (353 days)

The Year of the Loong! The last time a dragon banknote design was issued in modern China was in 2000. In that year, China released a commemorative 100 yuan polymer note to celebrate the Millennium year 2000, and also the Year of the Dragon龙(龍)年. The design for the 2000 note on the front featured an Imperial Dragon with a fireball. In December 2023, the bank announced the release of a twenty yuan 贰拾圓 commemorative note to celebrate Chinese Zodiac 2024 The Year of the Dragon. This banknote also features an Imperial Dragon on the front. A total of 100 million pieces have been issued.

The Year of the Dragon celebration begins on 10.02.2024 and will end on 28.01.2025. It is reported that the Chinese central bank intends to release a full 12 cycle of the Chinese Zodiac animals series with the first note for the Dragon year. The remaining eleven notes will be progressively issued over the next 11 years with one zodiac animal each, just like those issued by the two commercial banks in Macau from 2012 to 2023.

In the 12 Chinese Zodiacs, the Dragon is positioned 5th in the animal signs cycle. Among the 12 animals, the Dragon is the most powerful creature, and it symbolises power, good luck, strength and health. It is also a fact that more babies are usually being born during the year of the Dragon, than any other animal signs. Well, at least this is according to the Chinese. If you were born in the Year of the Dragon, get yourself this banknote as a souvenir. You would be either 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 years old or even older.

Online applications for pre-orders for these notes were opened from 03.01.2024 and each is restricted to 20 pieces per application at face value. If the entire prints were up for grabs, and with a population of 1.4 billion people, this equates to 5,000,000 applicants, assuming each applicant submitted for 20 pieces of notes each. Of course, this was not the case. Due to high demand, several banks' websites were inaccessible and causing issues such as lag, delay in delivery of security verification codes and others. These notes were then released to the public on 09.01.2024. It would be fair to say that these new notes are expected to be used as red package (hong pao/紅包) for the Chinese New Year. No doubt many will keep them as souvenirs as the New Year Dragon notes are always popular among the Chinese people. I am sure many of these notes will end up as 'hong pao' too. In addition to this banknote, 120 million pieces of 10 yuan bimetallic copper alloy were also released.

It should be noted that whilst this note was issued as a commemorative banknote, there is nothing printed on the note to indicate this, nor any wordings or logo, except the single letter prefix of 'J'. The letter 'J' prefix has been used for all commemorative notes issued since the 2000 Year of the Dragon and Millennium polymer note. This note is printed in a vertical format on both front and back, and like the 2000 commemorative note, it is also printed on polymer substrate material. The colours selected for this note are predominantly red and reddish, as these are the auspicious colours to the Chinese. Like all modern Chinese banknotes there are no signatures printed, but only the usual square Central Bank seal.

This is the 7th commemorative banknote issued by the People's Bank of China and the second commemorative banknote for the Year of the Loong. Previous commemorative issues were -

1999 - 50 yuan 50th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Revolution 1949-1999;

2000 - 100 yuan Year of the Dragon/Millennium polymer;

2008 - 10 yuan 2008 XXIX Beijing Summer Olympics;

2015 - 100 yuan Aerospace and Science Technology;

2022 - 20 yuan 2022 XXIV Beijing Winter Olympics;

2022 - 20 yuan 2022 XXIV Beijing Winter Olympic polymer;

2024 - 20 yuan Year of the Dragon polymer.

Twenty Yuan

Imperial dragon

Front - A Chinese Imperial writhing dragon (with five claws) in green and gold colours. The writhing dragon is facing east. Unlike the 2000 100 yuan note, this one did not have the fireball printed in the design. The dragon is surrounded by Chinese stylised clouds. The Coat of Arms of China is printed on the top left-hand corner. At the bottom is an ancient Chinese writing of 'Fu' (福/Luck), and is written/designed in such a way that it can be seen on either side of the note.

Signature - N/A

Quantity - 100 million pieces

Dimensions - 71mm x 146mm

Back - Three children playing a lantern dance together, with one holding a paper dragon lantern. Another little girl is holding a resemblance of a ball (fireball) lantern and a little boy is holding a paper drum shaped lantern with his left hand. The background depicts Beijing quadrangle courtyards with tree surroundings. This note looks a bit like those Chinese red packets used during new years.

Children playing a lantern dance

rat ox tiger rabbit DRAGON snake horse goat monkey rooster dog pig

...Facts; -

Why does Chinese New Year not fall on the first of January or on a fixed day, like the Gregorian calendar? Chinese New Year is based on the lunisolar calendar. Like the Gregorian calendar, there are also 12 months in a year. However, the number of days in a month is based on the cycle of the Moon and that can vary between 29 and 30 days and for a normal year, it can be 353, 354 or 355 days. In the event of a leap year, a full month is added to the calendar. This is usually added every three years. In the past 19 years, an extra month was added seven times. For a leap year, the total number of days in a year is between 383 to 385 days.

The Chinese New Year is celebrated on the second new moon after the Winter Solstice (冬至 Dongzhi festival) on December 21 (22nd or 23rd) and the Chinese New Year can fall between the fourth week of January and on the last week of February on the Gregorian Calendar. I do not believe any Chinese New Year has ever come before January 21st or later that February 20th.

04 February, 2022

...China - XXIV Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 Commemorative Notes

中华人民共和国

(中華人民共和國)

(Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó)

(People's Republic of China)

中国人民银行 (中國人民銀行)

(Zhōngguó Rénmín Yínháng / People's Bank of China)
Currency : Renminbi 人民币 (CNY)

Note: Only one note is polymer.

On the 03.12.2021, the central bank of China, the People’s Bank of China announced the release of two new commemorative banknotes to be issued on 21.12.2021, for the celebration of the XXIV 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic games. The games is held in Beijing, commencing on 04.02.2022 and will conclude on 20.02.2022.

Both the notes issued have the face value of 20 yuan. Details of the issues are as follows: -

Signature - Official square seal on reverse;

Quantity - 200 million sets;

Material - One paper and one polymer;

Format - Both in vertical format front and back;

Colour - Predominately blue with the Olympics logo in red;

Date - 2022 on both notes printed on reverse next to the official square seal;

Dimensions - 70mm x 145mm.

Of the 200 million notes, 40,000 sets were also released in a folder but these are not for sale to the public, but instead retained for their archive purposes. These folder sets will be displaying in public places like museums etc around the country. If you have bought them in a folder, then those folders are most likely 'home made' and not the official issues.

In the history of the modern Olympic games, China is the only host nation that have issued commemorative banknotes to celebrate both the Summer (2008) and Winter (2022) games, and both Hong Kong and Macau are the only two nations/territories that have issued the same but not as a host nation for the sports.

Twenty Yuan (Paper)

Freestyle Skiing

Front - A person performing freestyle skiing, with the image of snowy mountain and the image of the Great Wall of China below. Underneath the the wall, micro prints of Beijing 2022 in English are added. This note is dedicated to the snow sports, which is usually related to an outdoors event where fresh or man made snows are required, like the Alpine/Cross country skiing, Giant slalom, Halfpipe etc.

Back - National Ski Jumping Center located in Zhangjiakou city (张家口市) in Hebei Province (河北省). This city is located about 200 km northeast of Beijing. The center is called Snow Ruyi (nicknamed) and the venue was built in 2020; and is also China's first international standard ski jumping site with the longest ski jump trail built in the world. Underneath is the image of a green snowflake and a section of the world famous Great Wall of China showing two beacons towers. The following Chinese texts are also printed, just underneath the name of the central bank: -

第24届冬季奧林匹克运动会纪念

(Commemoration of the 24th Winter Olympic Games)

National Ski Jumping Center located in Zhangjiakou city

Twenty Yuan (Polymer)

Figure Skating

Front - A woman and a man performing figure skating with the night sky in the background. Below is the image of a mountain covered with snow. Next to it is the musical notes printed in green colour. This note is dedicated to the ice sports, which is usually held indoor games in most cases, unless they are preforming this on a frozen river or lake like in some freezing countries.

Back - The National Aquatics Center or the Water Cubes in Beijing (北京) which hosted the curling and skating events. This venue was built for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic games and was used for the swimming and diving events. Underneath is the reflection of the mountain covered with snow with snowflakes.

The National Aquatics Center or the Water Cubes in Beijing

Like the 2014 Sochi note, the designs for these two notes are unique in such a way that there are no main images in promoting an individual (death or alive), or any other images other that the sporting events it selves. You might say that the Great Wall of China should not be part of the designs, but in Zhangjiakou prefecture there are about 1476 kilometers of the Great wall sections and more than 1000+ beacon towers and is considered as part of the surrounding scene where the ski jumping events took place. The other obvious feature is the National Emblem of the People''s Republic of China, which is expected. Surprisingly, the National flag is not part of the designs on any of the two notes.

Footnote:

Whilst many postage stamps and coins were minted to celebrate the Olympic games both Winter and Summer events, this is the only third and fourth banknote issued to celebrate the Winter games and the 8th and 9th banknotes issued to commemorate an Olympics event. China is also the third host nation to issue an Olympic games banknotes, after Russia (Sochi 2014) and South Korea (PueongChang 2018), and the first to release two notes for this celebration. Here I have excluded the 2017 Fiji $7 note as this issue was related to winning the country first Olympics gold medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and not the entire event itself. The other two nations that have issued Olympics banknotes are Hong Kong Bank of China and Macau Bank of China.

With 40,000 folders will be issued against the population of say 1.40 billion people, the odd of getting one is 0.01% or one folder for very 35,000 people. Needless to say, less than 40,000 will be available to the public as some of these folders with be presented to high ranking officials or VIPs. Unfortunately, many of us are just a 'P', and are missing the 'VI' in front.

Renminbi vs Yuan

You must be wondering why the Chinese currency is called Renminbi (人民币) and yet the word Yuan is printed on the banknotes. There is basically no difference between the two. The word Renminbi literately means 'people's currency', which was introduced after the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 by the current Chinese government. The word 'yuan' is the name of the unit of the renminbi in which the currency are dominated. It is normal to list the price of an item as 10 yuan but is incorrect to label it as 10 renminbi. The Korean and Japanese currencies of Won and Yen respectively, derived from the same Chinese word Yuan. The Yuan literally means 'Round' (圓), like those cash coins first issued 400 BC.