Description

2017 Macau Lunar Rooster 1 oz .999 Fine Silver 20 Patacas (Proof) Colour Coin

2017年澳門龍年生肖紀念銀幣，面值20澳門元，重量31.10克，成色999%，精製鏡面，發行量6000

The 2017 Macau Lunar Rooster 1 oz .999 Fine Silver 20 Patacas (Proof) Colour Coin is the 10th coin issue as part of the highly popular “Macau Lunar 12 Coin Collection (Issue Years 2008 – 2019)”.

Obverse side: Features the outline of a magnificent rooster, accompanied by blooms of rosy Celosia cristata, also known as cockscomb.

The name cockscomb was given to this flower due to its similarity to the comb of the rooster. The rooster’s comb or crown, has the Chinese words ‘鸡冠‘whereby its ‘冠’ has the same pronunciation as the ‘官’ from the word, ‘Official’. Therefore, the arrangement of a rooster with cockscomb flowers symbolises career progressions due to the Chinese words, “官上加官”, literally meaning to add another ‘crown’ on top of a ‘crown’.

Reverse side: Features the St. Dominic’s Church. Located within the Historic Centre of Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the church is one of Macau’s oldest historical structures, built in 1587.

Today, its bell tower, refurbished into the Treasure of Sacred Art Museum, hosts a collection of around 300 artefacts. A church of both Portuguese and Spanish influences, its unmistakable Baroque style yellow and green façade stands prominently in the heart of Macau’s famous St Dominic’s Square.

The reverse employs precision minting with an added human touch as well. The fine details are intricately carved, right down to detailing such as the windows and wall patterns, accentuated with varying relief height and sandblast effects to create three-dimensional depth to represent this majestic iconic site.

This Macau fine Lunar Proof .999 fine silver 20-pataca coin weighs 31.1 grams, measures 40.7 millimeters in diameter, and has a limited mintage issue of 8,000 pieces.

Macau Silver Series
The Macau Lunar Series comes in both Silver and Gold issues. The series begins in 1979 with the celebration of the Year of the Goat. A 1oz silver with face value of 100 Patacas. The first series as it became known ran from 1979 through to the 1990 Horse. The second series again began with the 1991 to the 2001 Horse. Oddly some confusion with the mints delayed what is today considered the popular color third series. It begins with the 2008 Lunar Rat and will end with the 2019 Year of the Pig.

All the Macau lunar series are very popular with collectors throughout Asia and they indeed also have an international collector base.