The modern coinage of Macao

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Macao, 500 patacas, 1999.  Gold.  Return of Macao to China.

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Flag of Macau.

The common obverse of the Chinese commeorative coins featured the new regional flag of Macau.

From Wikipedia:

The Regional flag of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 中華人民共和國澳門特別行政區區旗; Portuguese: Bandeira regional da Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China), is light green with a lotus flower above the stylised Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed stars: one large in the centre of the arc and four smaller ones.

The lotus was chosen as the floral emblem of Macau. The Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge is a bridge linking the Macau Peninsula and the island of Taipa. The bridge is one of the most recognisable landmarks for the territory. The water beneath the lotus and the bridge symbolise Macau's position as a port and its role played in the territory. The five five-pointed stars echo the design of the flag of the People's Republic of China, symbolising the relationship Macau has with its sovereign state.

According to the Basic Law of Macau, the Macau Regional Flag is a green flag with five stars, lotus flower, bridge and sea water.

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Even Sierra Leone got in on the act.

It issued a commemorative dollar coin in 1999 to celebrate the handover.

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Macao has issued some interesting commemorative pieces over the years.

This 100 patacas coin of 1978 celebrates Macao's Grand Prix motor races.

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Macao, 100 patacas, 1988.

More fine designs, showing a junk and a racing car.

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Macao, 100 patacas, 1995.  Opening of Macao's International Airport.

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Macao, 20 patacas, 2013.  Year of the snake.

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See also: Hong Kong: Elizabeth II and the Return to China.

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An interesting collector coin from Portugal: 200 escudos, 1996.  Discovery of Macao.

[quaziright]

I had visited Macau while in China last year. Sad to say it was quite underwhelming and those monuments such as the Guia lighthouse and Saint paul's ruins look much better in the pictures than in real life (they are definitely not imposing in any sense of the word). Even the lago do senada (I'm not sure i spelt that right), was such a tiny street. In a few words, you don't visit Macau to see portuguese heritage. Worth going and seeing the Casinos though. Wouldn't recommend staying overnight in Macau though

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Macao, 2 patacas, 1998.  N# 9665.



A sketch of the design by the original artist, Justino Lei.

The scan of the sketch is copyright of the Royal Mint (UK).

Unfortunately, the scan did not capture all of the design.