Year of Dragon commemorative coins, banknotes in high demand

Pre-orders for commemorative coins and banknotes for the Year of the Dragon kicked off on Wednesday. Almost all of these were snatched up immediately, with some already selling for higher prices on second-hand trading platforms.

The topic "commemorative coins and banknotes for the Year of the Dragon" quickly began trending on China's X-like Sina Weibo, earning 47.19 million views as of Thursday afternoon.

After pre-orders opened on Wednesday evening, the long-awaited Year of the Dragon commemorative coins and banknotes became extremely popular. The reservations for the commemorative banknotes, which started at 10:30 pm, were especially in high demand. Many netizens commented on social media, "It was almost impossible to get one. They were gone in a second!"

The Chinese zodiac contains 12 animals - rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig - that reflect people's attributes. Some pointed out that it was especially hard to pre-order the commemorative coins and banknotes for the Year of the Dragon compared to other years, probably due to the Chinese people's particular fondness for the Chinese dragon.

"In past years, I could pre-order for five or six people, but this year it was really tough," a netizen said.

Some offered to pay higher prices to buy these items second-hand, while on second-hand trading platforms, the prices have already skyrocketed.

Aimed at celebrating the coming Year of the Dragon, the set of commemorative currency issued by China's central bank consists of a gold coin, a silver coin, a copper alloy coin and a banknote, all of which are legal tender in China.

The obverse sides of the coins bear combinations of auspicious traditional Chinese designs. The reverse side of the gold coin features the Chinese character fu, which means good luck and fortune, and a cartoon dragon, while the reverse side of the silver coin bears the combination of the character fu and a lantern, deer and butterfly. Meanwhile, the banknote features a dragon and children doing a dragon lantern dance.