What’s the deal with the denomination of NT$50? Currently we have:
[*]A bank note[*]The thick gold colored coin[*]A large coin with a gold disc surrounded by a silver band of dissimilar metal[*]A large gold colored coin slightly larger than a NT$10 coin (just introduced)
[/list]Why have four, without withdrawing previous versions?
As I know the only other coin with more than one variant is the NT$10, but the differences are subtle and only involve the design. It would be easier to follow if the coin designs were radically different in size or shape, but they are all rather large and similar.
The notes and older, solid-color coins are being withdrawn at the end of this month. The large two-color coins will be withdrawn from circulation two years from now.
Well coins and notes can be withdrawn from circulation at the drop of a hat, but the whole point of coins in a modern society – as far as I understand it – is that their sole existence depends on the prevalance of vending machines.
So why keep changing the design of a coin? It’ll just frustrate consumers if they can’t buy MRT tickets, put it in a street phone or buy a can a of coke at the airport.
Plastic banknotes are the way of the future, as our buddies down under know.
Does anyone want to bet NT$50 that the big round gold thing won’t be the last word in fifties before it’s competitors are withdrawn. Possible reasons: Too big, back to notes (see above), IC card version…??
monkey, being a soft drink addict I always have to keep a large supply of 10’s in my pocket. I notice since I lived in Taiwan I have developed a market stoop to the right. Why won’t the d*** things take bills like their foreign counterparts?
I think that ultimately you have to realize that Taipei is not a world-class city. That you can get Coke at all is worth savoring.
Did anyone tell the government that the face of notes should have the least “busy” design – like a mug shot of some dude – to distingush it from the back? The designers of the NT$500 sure didn’t get the drift.
Hmmm… but which dude? Clearly CKS is falling from fashion, and Sun Yat Sen on everything seems like overkill. Taiwan has a pretty limited supply of dead presidents… but I still think Chang Ching-Kuo should get a note for his actions that paved the way to the world’s first Chinese democracy. How about artists and writers? Heroes from 228… Surely there have to be enough notable Taiwanese figures to fill 3 bank notes and 4 coins (excluding repeats!)
I saw one NT$10 coin (Y2K commerative edition) that had dragon designs on both sides. They must have been short of ideas that day!
The new NT$2,000 note will have those land-locked, native salmon on the back. The ones you’ve never heard about or seen.
I think the front of a new bill should have a binglang babe on it and the back an old woman selling choudoufu…
quote:Originally posted by wolf_reinhold:
The new NT$2,000 note will have those land-locked, native salmon on the back. The ones you've never heard about or seen.
I’ve seen Formosan salmon in the wild, but they were swimming in a river, not flying over a mountain like the ones on the NT$2000 note.
quote:Originally posted by wolf_reinhold:
I think the front of a new bill should have a binglang babe on it and the back an old woman selling choudoufu....
That's a great idea! And they should make it a scratch-and-sniff bill - that would be cutting edge... [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
quote:Originally posted by Maoman:
That's a great idea! And they should make it a scratch-and-sniff bill - that would be cutting edge... [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
And just think – if they made the choudofu scratch and sniff on the one side and the babe scratch and sniff on the other, they could use the same scent for each side, thereby saving money!
quote[quote]I can't wait for the "6-person-on-a-scooter" theme on the upcoming NT$388 bill. [/quote]
My friend got one of those recently. It seems that he came upon a collection of NT$ 600 banknotes in the back room of a printing factory in a certain southern Taiwan city, and took a stack of them for his personal use.
Visiting some of the central mountain tribes a few weeks later, he bought some merchandise in one of their small shops. The total cost was NT$ 186, and when he paid with an NT$ 600 note, he received NT$ change to the effect of one $ 26 coin and a $ 388 bill.
I forget what he said was the design motif of that bill. Or I may have been dreaming.