100 Patacas Year of the Snake

Macau's lunar series patacas are struck under the Autoridade Monetária de Macau, which assumed monetary authority from the Banco Nacional Ultramarino following the 1999 handover to China. The 155-gram format places this squarely in the five-troy-ounce category, a size that became the de facto standard for prestige lunar issues across Asian mints in the early 2000s as collector demand for large-format silver surged in mainland China.

The Snake is the sixth animal in the twelve-year cycle. 2013 was also the first full lunar year following Xi Jinping's appointment as General Secretary of the Communist Party — a political transition that briefly complicated ceremonial coin distribution channels between Macau and the mainland.