Bank of Taiwan is to auction banknotes with “special” serial numbers starting on May 18, the central bank said on Thursday.
People tend to favor banknotes with certain serial numbers, particularly those with numbers that are homophones of Mandarin words related to prosperity or wealth. Some people are willing to pay large sums for them, as has been seen at 21 similar auctions held by the central bank over the past 10 years.
Among the most coveted notes are those with serial numbers containing one or more eights, such as “888” or “168,” because the number eight is a homophone for “prosperity” in Mandarin, while one and six, when individually enunciated, mean “all the way.”
Photo: CNA
Serial numbers featuring consecutive numbers, such as 123456, are also considered collectibles.
A total of 4,395 banknotes with 121 sets of numbers are to be auctioned, each with two English letters at the beginning and end.
The central bank said that the state-owned Bank of Taiwan, the country’s largest lender, is to conduct the auction online starting at 10am on May 18 and conclude at 10am on May 23.
Bank of Taiwan is to publish details about the auctions on its Web site from Monday to May 23, while the same information is also to appear in newspapers from Monday to Wednesday.
The central bank said the auctions had made NT$69.56 million (US$2.3 million) for the government since the first auction in October 2012.
The note that sold for the most over its face value was a NT$100 bill auctioned in June 2013 for NT$15,360, or 153.6 times its value, the central bank said.
The serial number for the banknote was SU888888AK.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
RSS