10 Yuan Year of the Rat

China's lunar series coinage has been issued without interruption since 1981, making the 2020 Rat issue the second time the twelve-year cycle had completed a full rotation. The Rat holds the first position in the Chinese zodiac, and years falling under it — 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 — tend to generate the heaviest collector demand in the series, a pattern the People's Bank has historically acknowledged with higher mintage ceilings than mid-cycle animals receive.

The 2020 issue also landed in the opening weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak, which disrupted secondary market distribution considerably.