The central bank yesterday unveiled a set of Chinese zodiac commemorative coins for the Year of the Dragon, which are available for online preorder from Monday to Saturday next week or to purchase at Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) branches nationwide from Jan. 22.
The central bank hopes to sell 90,000 sets of the coins, with 45,000 units each for online preorders and in-person sales, it said in a statement.
Each set, priced at NT$1,900, 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, it said.
Photo: CNA
The silver coin’s obverse side has a gold-plated image of a dragon and the reverse side bears an image of the Songjiang Battle Array (宋江陣) in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), the central bank said.
The traditional battle ritual is a form of performing arts that combines elements of martial arts, dance and drumming. A few hundred years ago, it was performed as physical training to unite and defend local communities. It morphed into a religious activity to entertain deities and then into folk art. Nowadays, the Neimen Festival is one of Taiwan’s most distinctive cultural tourism events, the central bank said.
The copper-alloy coin bears an image of a dragon playing with a pearl on its obverse side, while the reverse side has a rose pad printed in color, it said.
Photo: CNA
As the dragon represents nobility and is synonymous with excellence, sales of the coin sets are expected to be good, Department of Issuance Director-General Teng Yen-ta (鄧延達) told a news conference in Taipei, adding that Taiwanese are generally drawn to the dragon among the 12 zodiac signs.
The central bank started issuing zodiac commemorative coin sets in 2017 for the Year of the Rooster.
Last year it sold 90,000 sets for the Year of the Rabbit at NT$1,800 each.
Photo: CNA
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI