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Updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 0:08 am TWN, CNA



	A woman shows off a Year of the Dragon commemorative coin set at a Bank of Taiwan branch in Taipei, yesterday. (Akie Ang, The China Post) More Photos (2)

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Collectors get fired up, lined up for Dragon Year commemorative coins

TAIPEI -- People scrambled Monday to snap up coin sets minted to commemorate the Year of the Dragon, forming long lines outside branches of Bank of Taiwan, the only authorized seller of the coins.

Bank of Taiwan public relations staffers said the lines of people waiting for the coins at its branches were longer than ever before.

One elderly man surnamed Wu, who was born in the Year of the Dragon, said he had to wait four hours in line but still felt the purchase was worth it.

In anticipation of higher demand for Year of the Dragon coins, the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has issued 150,000 coin sets this year compared with 120,000 in past years.

Each set contains a silver NT$100 (US$3.3) coin and two bronze coins in the denominations of NT$50 and NT$20, respectively, and costs NT$2,000 this year, up from NT$1,550 last year due to an increase in the cost of metals, the bank said.

The dragon commemorative coins are expected to stir a collection frenzy, and their value is expected to appreciate by about 20 percent almost immediately, said Chou Chien-fu, a coin collection expert.

On one side of the silver coin is an imprint of a dragon, which is considered a symbol of unparalleled distinction and auspiciousness among Chinese people.

The reverse side features an image of the “Ershawan Gun Emplacement” that is located east of Keelung Harbor.

The structure, built on a natural reef, was reconstructed in 1886 during the Qing Dynasty by General Liu Ming-chuan, the first Taiwan Provincial Governor.

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