Shopping Cart
The 10 yuan coin was issued by the People's Bank of China in December 2024 to mark the Year of the Snake in the Chinese lunar calendar. New Year commemorative 贺岁 coins are released every year ahead of the Spring Festival and are among the most widely distributed issues in Chinese numismatics.
Image description
The reverse is given over to the image of a snake, combining the traditional art of jianzhi paper-cutting with decorative elements of the nianhua New Year print. The composition is completed by festive lanterns and a ginseng root — established symbols of the Spring Festival, longevity and abundance; the cyclical year mark "乙巳" appears on the left. The obverse carries the inscriptions "中国人民银行" (People's Bank of China), the denomination "10元", the romanisation "SHIYUAN" and the year of issue "2025", set against a tuanhua ornament in the form of a rounded floral rosette.
Historical context
The Snake (蛇, shé) is the sixth sign of the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle, and 2025 corresponds to the cyclical pair 乙巳 (yǐsì) — the year of the Wood Snake. In folk tradition the snake is respectfully called the "little dragon" (小龙), and its yearly shedding of skin made it a symbol of renewal, wisdom and longevity. The serpent image is among the oldest in Chinese culture: the primordial mother Nüwa and the culture hero Fuxi were depicted with human torsos and serpentine bodies, in reliefs known from Han dynasty tombs (206 BC – AD 220). Jianzhi paper-cutting, the basis of the reverse design, was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009, while the nianhua New Year print flourished under the Ming and Qing dynasties in the workshops of Yangliuqing, Taohuawu and Yangjiabu.
Numismatic significance
The coin belongs to the 贺岁普通纪念币 series of circulating New Year issues, which the People's Bank of China strikes in mass mintages and distributes at face value through advance reservation and exchange at Chinese banks. The 2025 mintage is 100 million pieces, of which 10,000 are retained for the historical currency archive — so the collectible value of the issue rests above all on complete sets. The Year of the Snake is the penultimate coin of the second cycle of the bimetallic zodiac series, opened by the Goat in 2015 and closed by the Horse in 2026. In Chinese culture such coins are traditionally given at the Spring Festival as a wish for health, prosperity and good fortune.