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)
(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)
兔🐇年
🐀 🐂🐅🐇🐉🐍🐎🐐🐒🐓🐕🐖
This is the 12th and the last of the Chinese Zodiac banknote issued to celebrate the Chinese Calendar Zodiac animal series. A full cycle consists of 12 animals starting from the Rat to Pig, and this Zodiac banknote series first started in 2012 with the Year of the Dragon. The Dragon is the 5th Zodiac animal in the 12-year cycle.
The announcement for this Rabbit Zodiac 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 opened on 17.04.2023 and closed on 12.05.2023. Each application was allowed to purchase the note of 10 pieces per bank at face value. Like the last 11 issues, both the Bank of China (BoC) and Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) issued one note each. The banknotes were then 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. This note was released on 22.05.2023.
The main design for the Year of the Rabbit banknote is basically the same as all the previous Zodiac banknotes issued, except the Zodiac animal of the year. The colour for the note is predominantly printed in red which is traditionally an auspicious colour to the Chinese (including gold colour as well).
As this is the last animal of the 12-year cycle, and it would be interesting to see if this tradition will continue next year, which is the Year of the Dragon. The Year of the Dragon note which was issued in 2012 was an instant hit with demand exceeded supply which let to the Monetary Authority of Macau to print another batch to cater for the demand. The first batch of notes were all printed with 7-digit serial numbers and the second was printed with 8-digit.
The history for 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 the Bank of China Macau Branch, and became the 9th overseas branch 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 01.01.2023 澳門 (Macau).
Ten Patacas
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| Rabbit, Chinese Zodiac dial |
Front - The main design for the Year of the Rabbit 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 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 Rabbit Zodiac animal.
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| BoC's head office building, A-Ma temple, |
Lunar Chinese New Year 12-year full cycle
Dragon - 23 January 2012 to 9 February 2013
Snake - 10 February 2013 to 30 January 2014
Horse - 31 January 2014 to 18 February 2015
Goat - 19 February 2015 to 07 February 2016
Monkey - 08 February 2016 to 27 January 2017
Rooster - 28 January 2017 to 15 February 2018
Dog - 16 January 2018 to 04 February 2019
Pig - 05 February 2019 to 24 January 2020
Rat - 25 January 2020 to 11 February 2021
Ox - 12 February 2021 to 31 January 2022
Tiger - 01 February 2022 to 21 January 2023
Rabbit - 22 January 2023 to 09 February 2024
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