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By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporter
The central bank yesterday unveiled a set of Chinese zodiac commemorative coins for the Year of the Horse, available for online preorder until Monday next week or for purchase at Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) branches from Jan. 29.
The central bank said in a statement it aims to sell 90,000 sets of the coins, with 50,000 units for online preorders and 40,000 units for in-person sales.
Each set, priced at NT$2,450, consists of one silver coin weighing 1 ounce (28.3g) with a face value of NT$100 and one copper-alloy coin with a face value of NT$10, the bank said.
Photo: CNA
The silver coin’s obverse side shows a partially gold-plated image of a pair of galloping horses, and the reverse side features an image of Taipei 101’s New Year fireworks, it said.
The copper-alloy coin bears an image of geometric shapes that form the silhouette of a horse on its obverse side, while the reverse side has an image of hydrangea flowers printed in color, it added.
The central bank said the price of the coin sets this year is the highest ever and 28.95 percent more than last year’s NT$1,900 due to the rising price of silver.
Photo: CNA
Over the past 10 years, the price has mostly been between NT$1,600 and NT$1,900 per set, the bank’s data showed.
Silver gained more than 140 percent last year, while gold surged about 64 percent, and copper also had its best year since 2009, rising 42 percent, according to the central bank.
“This price hike was unavoidable, because silver prices have surged dramatically, and gold prices have repeatedly hit new highs,” cable TV station USTV quoted Department of Issuance Director-General Teng Yen-ta (鄧延達) as saying at a central bank news conference in Taipei.
“If the coin sets were priced too low, it would create arbitrage opportunities — something the central bank would not want to see. Therefore, it had no choice but to respond appropriately to market prices,” Teng said.
“However, if silver prices fall in the future, the central bank would adjust the coin sets’ price accordingly,” he added.
Based on the central bank’s data, sales of the coin sets were typically good during the Year of the Horse, the Year of the Dragon and the Year of the Tiger. That explains why the number of total sets of coins for sale this year is 10,000 more than last year’s 80,000.
