250 Patacas Return of Macau to China

Macau's handover to the People's Republic of China occurred on December 20, 1999, ending 442 years of Portuguese administration — the longest continuous European colonial presence in Asia. This 2009 issue marks the tenth anniversary of that transfer. The Monetary Authority of Macao has issued commemorative gold pieces at each major handover interval, making the anniversary series a predictable but genuinely well-executed run of low-mintage material.