The modern coinage of Macao

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Map of China, showing Macao and Hong Kong in the south-east.

From Wikipedia:

Macau ("Bay gate"), also spelled Macao, officially known as the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is (like Hong Kong) a special administrative region on the southern coast of the People's Republic of China. Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong Kong, which is about 64 kilometers to the east, and it is also bordered by Guangdong of Mainland China to the north and the South China Sea to the east and south. With an estimated population of around 636,200 living in an area of 30.3 km2 (11.6 sq miles), it is the most densely populated region in the world.

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Map of Macao and Hong Kong.

Around 95% of the population of Macao speaks some form of Chinese as its first language.

Neighbouring Hong Kong has an area of 1104 sq km  and around 7.2 million inhabitants.

Macao is therefore far smaller in terms of population (636,000) and area (30.3 sq km).

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Map of Macao.

From Wikipedia:

Macau was administered by the Portuguese Empire and its inheritor states from the mid-16th century until late 1999, when it was the last remaining European colony in Asia under Portugal. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 1550s. In 1557, Macau was rented to Portugal from Ming China as a trading port. The Portuguese Empire administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until 1887, when Macau became a colony. Sovereignty over Macau was transferred to China on 20 December 1999. The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau and Macau Basic Law stipulate that Macau operate with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer.

Under the policy of "one country, two systems", the State Council of the People's Republic of China is responsible for military defense and foreign affairs while Macau maintains its own legal system, the public security force, monetary system, customs policy, and immigration policy. Macau participates in many international organizations and events that do not require members to possess national sovereignty.

Macau is one of the world's richest cities, and as of 2013 its GDP per capita by purchasing power parity is higher than that of any country in the world, according to the World Bank. It became the world's largest gambling centre in 2006, with the economy heavily dependent on gambling and tourism, as well as manufacturing.

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From Wikipedia:

The Macao pataca, Macau pataca, or Macanese pataca (Portuguese: Pataca de Macau; Chinese: 澳門圓; ISO 4217 code: MOP) is the currency of Macau. It is subdivided into 100 avos (仙; sin), with 10 avos called ho (毫) in Cantonese. The abbreviation MOP$ is commonly used.

Macau has a currency board system under which the legal tender, Macau pataca (or Macao pataca), is 100 percent backed by foreign exchange reserves, in this case currently the Hong Kong dollar. Moreover, the currency board, Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM), has a statutory obligation to issue and redeem pataca on demand against the Hong Kong dollar at a fixed exchange rate and without limit.

 

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From Wikipedia:

The pataca was introduced in Portuguese Macau and Portuguese Timor in the year 1894, but only as a unit of account. The unit initially corresponded to the Mexican dollar, and it replaced the Portuguese real at a rate of 1 pataca = 450 reais. The name pataca derives from the fact that the Portuguese always referred to the Mexican dollar as the pataca mexicana.

At the end of the nineteenth century, there was no single currency in use in Macau, but the predominant circulating coins were the silver Mexican dollars, the British silver trade dollars of Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements, as well as the silver dollars and fractional coinage of the neighbouring province of Canton. In 1901, it was decided to have a uniquely Macau currency, and for that purpose, the Banco Nacional Ultramarino was granted exclusive rights to issue legal tender banknotes that were to be denominated in patacas.

On January 27, 1906, pataca notes in denominations of 1, 5, 50 and 100 were introduced and all foreign coinage was outlawed, the idea being to make the pataca paper notes the sole legal tender currency in Macau. However, the Chinese, being so accustomed to using silver for barter, were suspicious of this new paper money, and as such, the paper pataca always circulated at a discount in relation to the silver dollar coins. On the contrary, a similar action at exactly the same time in the Straits Settlements, and for the same purpose, had the different effect of putting the new Straits dollar into the gold exchange standard. Hence both the Macau pataca and the Straits dollar were launched at a sterling value of 2 shillings and 4 pence, but where the Straits dollar remained at that value until the 1960s, the Macau pataca fluctuated with the value of silver, just like the Hong Kong unit.

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From Wikipedia:

In 1935, when Hong Kong and China abandoned the silver standard, the Hong Kong unit was pegged to sterling at a rate of 1 shilling and 3 pence, while the Macau pataca was pegged to the Portuguese escudo at a rate of 5.5 escudos. This meant that the Macau pataca was worth only 1 shilling sterling and was therefore at a discount of 3 pence sterling in relation to the Hong Kong unit.

The first exclusively Macau coinage was not introduced until the year 1952, which happened to be the year after the last pataca fractional coins were minted for East Timor. In that year in Macau, denominations below 10 patacas were replaced by coins.

Coins were not issued for use in Macau until 1952, with the 20 cent coin of Canton Province circulating. In 1952, bronze 5 and 10 avos, cupro-nickel 50 avos and .720 fineness silver 1 and 5 patacas were introduced.

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Below you see the denominational side of the 5 avos coin that was introduced in 1952. The legend refers to the colonial power, Portugal.

From numista.com:

Metal   Bronze
Weight   2 g
Diameter   16.9 mm
Thickness   1.23 mm
Shape   Round
Orientation Coin alignment ↑↓

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Below you see the denominational side of the 10 avos coin that was introduced in 1952.

From numista.com:

Metal   Bronze
Weight   4.02 g
Diameter   20.3 mm
Thickness   1.53 mm
Shape   Round
Orientation  Coin alignment ↑↓

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Below is the obverse design of the 10 avos, which was common to the whole coinage. It specifies Macau and shows the then coat of arms of Macao, which included a Chinese dragon.

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There was no 20 or 25 avos coin, but a 50 avos coin was issued. In contrast to the 5 and 10 avos, the side carrying the legend "REPUBLICA PORTUGUESA" now also carried the Portuguese coat of arms, and the denomination was moved to the side that specified "MACAU" in the legend.

From numista.com:

Metal   Copper-nickel
Weight   3.6 g
Diameter   20 mm
Shape   Round
Orientation  Coin alignment ↑↓

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Here is a closer look at the Macao coat of arms on the 50 avos.

See also: Dragons on coins.

It is interesting to look at the other coats of arms within the Portuguese Empire of the 20th century. They follow a theme, each being similar, but with the upper right of the shield showing local symbols. See: Portuguese Empire: Coats of Arms of the 20th Century.

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The 1 pataca coin of 1952 followed the pattern of the 50 avos, with the standard side showing "REPUBLICA PORTUGUESA", whilst the MACAU legend side carried the denomination.

From numista.com:

Metal   Silver (.720)
Weight   3 g
Diameter   19 mm
Shape   Round
Orientation  Coin alignment ↑↓

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Finally, the 5 patacas coin of 1952 followed the format of the 1 pataca coin.

From numista.com:

Metal   Silver (.720)
Weight   15 g
Diameter   31 mm
Shape   Round
Orientation  Coin alignment ↑↓

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In 1967 the 5 avos and 10 avos coins were issued in nickel-brass, and with a slightly different weight and size.

5   avos: weight - 2.6 g; diameter - 17 mm.

10 avos: weight - 3.9 g; diameter - 22 mm.


The designs remained unchanged.

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Meanwhile, from 1968 to 1975 the 1 pataca coin was issued in nickel instead of silver. Its weight was now 10.6 g and its diameter 28.5 mm, so it was larger and heavier. Its design remained the same, so I am not posting an image of this coin.