{
  "title": "Two Patacas",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/06/currency-notes-two-patacas-salsa-mazlan",
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  "summary": "Macao SAR’s unique history has yielded different yet equally elegant versions of the same banknote",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Historical background",
      "content": "- Macao SAR is one of only a handful of places where different commercial banks issue their own versions of the same banknotes.\n- In 1901, while still under Portuguese rule, the colonial government gave the Banco Nacional Ultramarino the exclusive right to print pataca banknotes.\n- As part of negotiations leading to the Chinese handover in 1999, a second commercial bank, the Bank of China, was authorized to issue legal tender; today both banks share the right to print banknotes.\n- The 20-pataca note is the region’s most widely used denomination."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Bank of China 20-pataca note — design and symbolism",
      "content": "- Front:\n  - Features a Southern lion, a fixture of the Spring Festival, symbolizing openness, inclusiveness, and determination to forge ahead.\n  - Depicts the Bank of China’s local branch building, described as 160-meter-high, behind the lion in a vivid violet spread.\n  - Includes a flowering lotus, Macao’s floral emblem, representing prosperity.\n- Reverse:\n  - Shows Macao’s science center, designed by Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei, and its planetarium.\n  - Planetarium imagery references 3D constellation exhibits beamed onto a domed ceiling, nodding to the region’s science and technology scene."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Banco Nacional Ultramarino 20-pataca note — design and symbolism",
      "content": "- The Banco Nacional Ultramarino is described as 161-year-old.\n- The note explores Macao’s maritime roots:\n  - Features old and new facades of the bank’s headquarters.\n  - Includes a map of Macao from 1780.\n  - Decorative elements: sampans and sailing junks, a compass, lotus flowers, and a banyan tree.\n- Uses cartographic imagery to chart the port city’s evolution across centuries of seafaring history, according to De La Rue, the company that designed the note."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Macao context and economic snapshot",
      "content": "- Governance and systems:\n  - Macao operates its own legal, economic, and administrative systems under the “one country, two systems” framework.\n- Geography and demographics:\n  - Area: 12.7 square miles.\n  - Noted as one of the world’s most densely populated places.\n- Economy:\n  - Per capita income: about $67,500 a year.\n  - Economy driven primarily by tourism and gaming; described as the “world’s casino capital.”\n- Cultural synthesis:\n  - Macao’s blend of Chinese and Portuguese cultures creates a unique melting pot where old meets new, and East meets West.\n- The 20-pataca note is framed as honoring the city’s enduring traditions while celebrating its continuing leaps into the future.\n\nF&D Magazine — \"Two Patacas\", Salsa Mazlan, June 2025.\n\n---\n\n Content in this bundle\n\n- Cn\n  - Cn (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Cn (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n\n---\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/06/currency-notes-two-patacas-salsa-mazlan"
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    "Authors: SALSA MAZLAN",
    "Published: June 2, 2025",
    "Macao SAR is one of only a handful of places where different commercial banks issue their own versions of the same banknotes.",
    "In 1901, while still under Portuguese rule, the colonial government gave the Banco Nacional Ultramarino the exclusive right to print pataca banknotes.",
    "As part of negotiations leading to the Chinese handover in 1999, a second commercial bank, the Bank of China, was authorized to issue legal tender; today both banks share the right to print banknotes.",
    "The 20-pataca note is the region’s most widely used denomination.",
    "Front:",
    "Reverse:",
    "The Banco Nacional Ultramarino is described as 161-year-old.",
    "The note explores Macao’s maritime roots:",
    "Uses cartographic imagery to chart the port city’s evolution across centuries of seafaring history, according to De La Rue, the company that designed the note.",
    "Governance and systems:",
    "Geography and demographics:",
    "Economy:",
    "Cultural synthesis:",
    "The 20-pataca note is framed as honoring the city’s enduring traditions while celebrating its continuing leaps into the future.",
    "**Cn**"
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