...Macau Bank of China Macau Branch - 10 Patacas Year Of The Tiger 2022

 中華人民共和國澳門特別行政區

(Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China)
(Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China)

中國銀行澳門分行

(Banco da China, filial de Macau)

(Bank of China Macau Branch)

 Currency: Patacas (MOP)

 (老)虎🐅年

🐀 🐂🐅🐇🐉🐍🐎🐐🐒🐓🐕🐖

 

This is the 11th and the second last issue of the Chinese Zodiac banknote series issued to celebrate the Chinese Calendar Zodiac Animal Series Lunar New Year. A full cycle consists of 12 animals starting from the Rat to Pig, and this Zodiac banknote series was first started in 2012 with the Year of the Dragon note. The Dragon is placed in the 5th Zodiac animal order in the Chinese Zodiac cycle.

The announcement for this Zodiac banknote series was made on 11.04.2023. Interested collectors were invited to submit their application online to purchase the notes at face value. The online application was then opened on 17.04.2023 and closed on 12.05.2023. Each application was allowed to purchase 10 pieces per bank at face value. Like the last 10 issues, both the Bank of China (BoC) and Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) have released one note of 10 patacas each. The notes were then made available from 22.05.2023 to 11.08.2023 and were distributed via 9 commercial banks across the Macau territory. As per all previous releases, only the residents of Macau are eligible to obtain these new banknotes.

 

Whilst this note is for the year of the Tiger which is for the 2022 year, it was not released until May 2023. The Year of the Tiger started on 01.02.2022 and ended on 21.01.2023. The two banks in Macau have been releasing these Chinese Zodiac banknotes for two years in a row since the 2014 issue for the year of the Horse, together with the Year of the Goat. Prior to that, only one note was released per year (Dragon and Snake).

 

The main design for this note is very much the same as those released by BNU. The only differences are the bank's name and their respective brand logo, the Head Office building in Macau and the signature printed on the note. At a quick glance without looking at the name of the bank or brand, both notes look almost identical.

The history of the Bank of China was that it was originally established by Mr Zhuang Shiping (b.1911 -??) in June 1950, and at the time it was called Nam Tung Bank (Nantong Bank). On 01.01.1987, it was then renamed to Bank of China Macau Branch and became the 9th overseas of Bank of China. It was reported that the bank was donated to the current owner free of charge in 1986. Bank of China Macau Branch is the largest bank in the territory, and the Banco Nacional Ultramarino is ranked 6th. 

The date printed on this note is 01.01.2022 澳門 (Macau).

 

Ten Patacas

Tiger, Chinese Zodiac dial

 

Front - The main design for the Year of the Tiger banknote is basically the same as all the previous Zodiac banknotes issued, except the Zodiac animal for the particular year. The design also incorporated the Chinese Zodiac in Chinese with all 12 animals. The Chinese auspicious word 福 (Fu/Luck) is also printed on the top right hand corner. The colour for the note is predominantly printed in red which is traditionally an auspicious colour to the Chinese (together with gold colour as well).

 

President of Macau Branch (澳門分行行長) - Li Guang 李光

Watermark - Lotus flower

Dimensions - 139mm x 69.7mm

Back - The Bank of China's head office is situated at Av. Dr. Matio Soares in Macau. The 38-storey tall building was built in 1991. The building is located in the financial and commercial center of Praia Grande in Macau. Printed on the background is the A-Ma temple which is also a historical building and is a very famous temple in Macau. This temple was built in 1488 during the Ming Dynasty (1364-1644) and is located in Sao Lourenco in the southwestern of the Macau peninsula. The temple was built to commemorate Mazu, the sacred sea goddess who blesses the fishermen for safety and for good catches of fishes in the sea. In 2005, it became one of the designated sites of the Historic Center of Macau. To the right is the image of the Tiger Zodiac animal.

BoC's head office building, A-Ma temple, Tiger

 

Lunar Chinese New Year 12-year full cycle

23 January 2012 to 9 February 2013 - Dragon

10 February 2013 to 30 January 2014 - Snake

31 January 2014 to 18 February 2015 - Horse

19 February 2015 to 07 February 2016 - Goat

08 February 2016 to 27 January 2017 - Monkey

28 January 2017 to 15 February 2018 - Rooster

16 January 2018 to 04 February 2019 - Dog

05 February 2019 to 24 January 2020 - Pig

25 January 2020 to 11 February 2021 - Rat

12 February 2021 to 31 January 2022 - Ox

01 February 2022 to 21 January 2023 - Tiger

22 January 2023 to 09 February 2024 - Rabbit