Old-style NT$10 (US$0.33) coins bearing a likeness of former ROC President Chiang Kai-shek will be phased out as the central bank continues introducing replacements with strengthened security features.
The central bank decided in 2010 to replace the NT$10 coin featuring Chiang’s image, introduced in 1981, with high-security versions. These coins commemorate former President Chiang Ching-kuo; the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ROC and Jiang Wei-shui (1891-1931), founder of the Taiwanese Cultural Association and the Taiwanese People’s Party.
Although no new Chiang Kai-shek coins will be produced, the old ones will remain legal tender. The version bearing a likeness of ROC Founding Father Sun Yat-sen will become the most common NT$10 coin circulating, a central bank official said.
The central bank plans to mint 150 million of these NT$10 coins this year, which is expected to help speed up the replacement process, the official said.
The reverse of the new coins carry concealed images of four Chinese characters and a map of Taiwan, which are hard to counterfeit, according to the central bank.
Counterfeiting is taken very seriously by the central bank, with heavy penalties for offenders and constant research into new security features, the official added.
In the first quarter this year the central bank issued NT$79.84 billion in coins, of which about 30 percent was in NT$10 coins, and an estimated more than NT$80 billion will be issued in the first half of the year, a market expert said. (SDH)
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