Macau 10 Patacas

Description

The Macanese pataca or Macau pataca is the official currency of Macau. The official currency symbol: MOP$. The currency’s name is derived from the fact that, as part of the Spanish colonial empire, the Portuguese traditionally called the Spanish dollar the pataca mexicana.

In 1894, the pataca was adopted as a unit of account in Portuguese Macau and Portuguese Timor. The unit was designed to replace the Portuguese real, which was replaced by the Spanish dollar. In 1901, the Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) acquired the exclusive rights to issue legal tender denominated in patacas, the currency being the only currency in Macao. In Macau, coins were not issued until 1952. The first coins were introduced in denominations of 5, 10 and 50 avos, and 1 and 5 patacas. The 20 avos coin were minted in 1982, followed by the 10 patacas coin in 1997 and 2 patacas in the following year. The Macau Monetary Authority is in charge of issuing coins.

The 10 Macanese patacas coin front design illustrates the Saint Dominic’s Church, a late 16th-century Baroque-style church located in the peninsular part of the city at the Largo de São Domingos, followed by the denomination in the Chinese and Portuguese languages.

The reverse of the coin presents a stylized design with the name of the country in the center, a bat with open wings at the top and the year of issue at the bottom. This coin is part of the 1997 series, its rim is plain and fluted, and its color is gold and silver.

Text: M A C A U 1 9 9 7 10 PATACAS