Pobjoy Releases Chinese Lunar Dragon

By Richard Giedroyc - February 7, 2000

Isle of Man coin features
dragon playing with pearl.

Isle of Man coin features<br>dragon playing with pearl.

Wow, talk about things that go bump in the night! Wait until you see the dragon on the recently released 2000 Year of the Dragon crown of the Isle of Man!

No, that isn't the Dragon Lady on the obverse. That's the crowned image of Queen Elizabeth II.

The reverse depicts the golden dragon playing with a pearl, a design taken from a sculpture on the ceiling of a Chinese temple. The inscription includes Year of the Dragon both in English and in Chinese characters as well as the artist's "chop" or signature symbol.

You might ask, "What is the Isle of Man off the coast of Great Britain doing, producing Year of the Dragon coins celebrating the Chinese lunar new year?"

The IOM has an agreement with the privately owned Pobjoy Mint through which the mint decides what to strike in the name of that government. In return there is some financial agreement with the IOM government for the rights to produce coins in their name.

The Pobjoy Mint is known for its pinpoint marketing. Commemorative coins are struck in the name of any of several countries with which the mint has similar agreements to that of the agreement with the IOM. It becomes the decision of the Mint as to what will appear on the coins. In this way, Pobjoy can identify a specific market into which it wants to sell a coin depicting a specific subject rather than simply celebrating an event and hoping to find an interest for it among collectors.

Chinese lunar new year commemorative coins are popular. The origin of the Chinese lunar calendar appears to have been during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Astrologers inaugurated the 12 animal signs of the Zodiac as shorthand symbols of the 12 earthly branches, an ancient system of dividing the year into 12 months.

Today coins have been struck to mark the new year by the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macao, Isle of Man, Canada and others. All of the coins sell well upon their release. Many are specially packaged for gift presentation.

It has become big business in recent years for a Mint to obtain the rights from a government to strike legal tender coins in the name of that government, coins that in some cases may never be seen in the country in whose name the coins were issued. By this method several government and private mints have been able to strike coins rather than medals to mark various occasions for which it is understood there are people who would like to purchase a coin to mark the event.

There is a very practical side to this other than to generate good sales for a coin product. Many of these coins are more pertinent to our times than commemoratives, including those of the United States, marking events regarded by most people as being very minor.

Using the United States as an example, in recent years such subjects as the bicentennial of Congress, law enforcement and Community Service have been the subject of commemorative coins while the Pobjoy Mint has been able to choose subjects of relevance to our modern society such as the celebration of the new millennium, space exploration, motorcycle and automobile racing, golf, Christmas and even computers and cell phones.

In addition, Pobjoy has depicted cats, dogs and horses on coins, three of man's favorite pets. In general, the mint has had the liberty to choose subjects germane to today's world, rather than dwell on celebrations of the past through such arrangements.

The Isle of Man Year of the Dragon, 2000 coins are struck in six weights in .9999 fine gold, in .925 fine silver and in copper-nickel. The Pobjoy mint has a website for further information.

Richard Giedroyc is a numismatic writer, researcher, auction cataloger and coin dealer. He has been in the hobby and business most of his life, now having more than three decades’ experience in this fascinating hobby field. During this time Giedroyc has been the owner of Paris Bergman Galleries, owner of Classical Coin Newsletter, international editor of Coin World and owner of Giedroyc-Anderson Interesting World Coins. He is currently a numismatic consultant. He has written more than 2,000 byline numismatic stories and contributed to several coin catalogs.