10 Yuan 2008 Beijing Olympics

The 2008 Olympic commemorative 10 Yuan was issued specifically to mark the Beijing Games, and the People's Bank produced it in enormous quantities — estimates put the print run in the hundreds of millions. That volume has permanently suppressed secondary market values, despite persistent optimism from buyers who acquired rolls of uncirculated examples expecting appreciation.

Technically legal tender, though almost none entered circulation. The security specification is notably modest for a commemorative of this profile — a basic embedded thread and watermark, with none of the color-shifting ink or holographic elements found on the standard fourth and fifth series renminbi issued in the same period.