China's "Famous Paintings" series draws from the holdings of major national museums, with selections made through a state-administered cultural committee process rather than any single curatorial voice. The 2022 issue continues a format the People's Bank of China has used intermittently since the 1980s to monetize soft-power cultural diplomacy, producing coins that circulate almost exclusively in secondary collector markets — domestically and abroad — from the moment of release.
China's "Famous Paintings" series draws from the holdings of major national museums, with selections made through a state-administered cultural committee process rather than any single curatorial voice. The 2022 issue continues a format the People's Bank of China has used intermittently since the 1980s to monetize soft-power cultural diplomacy, producing coins that circulate almost exclusively in secondary collector markets — domestically and abroad — from the moment of release.