Macanese pataca

Infobox Currency
currency_name_in_local = 澳門圓 zh icon pataca macaense pt icon
image_1 =
image_title_1 = Bank of China 10 pataca.
iso_code = MOP
using_countries = MAC
inflation_rate = 4.9%
inflation_source_date = [http://www.dsec.gov.mo/index.asp?src=/english/indicator/e_piem_indicator.html Direcção dos Serviços de Estatística e Censos] , Q2 2007
pegged_with = Hong Kong dollar = MOP$1.03
subunit_ratio_1 = 1/100
subunit_name_1 = avo
symbol = MOP$
plural = patacas (Portuguese only)
plural_subunit_1 = avos (Portuguese only)
frequently_used_coins = 10, 50 avos, MOP$1, MOP$5
rarely_used_coins = 20 avos, MOP$2
used_banknotes = MOP$10, MOP$20, MOP$50, MOP$100, MOP$500, MOP$1000
issuing_authority_title = Monetary authority
issuing_authority = Monetary Authority of Macao
issuing_authority_website = www.amcm.gov.mo

The pataca (zh-t|t=澳門圓; ISO 4217 code: "MOP") is the currency of Macau. It is subdivided into 100 "avos" (Cantonese: 仙; "sin"), with 10 avos called "ho" (毫) in Cantonese. The abbreviation "MOP$" is commonly used.

Macau adopts the so-called currency board system under which the legal tender, Macanese pataca, is 100 percent backed by foreign exchange reserves, in this case currently the Hong Kong dollar. Moreover, the currency board, Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM), has a statutory obligation to issue and redeem pataca on demand against the Hong Kong dollar at a fixed exchange rate and without limit.cite web|url=http://www.amcm.gov.mo/history/pataca_info.htm|title=The history of pataca|publisher=Monetary Authority of Macao|accessdate=2008-01-04]

Etymology

The name "pataca" was derived from the then popular silver coin in Asia, the Mexican peso (eight reales), known in Portuguese as the "pataca mexicana". The Chinese name for the currency is yuan (圓), which is the same word for Chinese yuan, New Taiwan dollar and Hong Kong dollar. People in Hong Kong or Macau, however, usually refer the Macanese pataca as "Portuguese money" (葡幣), probably because Macau was once a Portuguese colony. [ [http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/25112797.html 所谓澳币是不是葡币？_百度知道 ] ]

History

The pataca was introduced in 1894 as a unit of account. It was initially equivalent to the Mexican peso, Spanish dollar and Hong Kong dollar, and replaced the Portuguese real at a rate of 1 pataca = 450 réis.Fact|date=January 2008 In 1905, the Macau Government granted the Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU; 大西洋銀行) the monopoly right to issue banknotes in pataca denominations. The first batch of one-pataca and five-pataca banknotes was circulated in Macau on 27 January the following year.cite book|author=S. S. Chan|year=2000|title=The Macau Economy|publisher=Publications Centre, University of Macau|isbn=9993726036]

Until 1935, the pataca was pegged to the Hong Kong dollar at par.Fact|date=January 2008 A succession of pegs to the Portuguese escudo followed, before the Hong Kong dollar was readopted as the peg.

Despite the fact that the pataca is the official currency of Macau, most of the money in circulation in the territory is actually Hong Kong dollars. Patacas accounted for only 29.9% of Macau's money supply at the end of 1998.

The exchange rate is pegged and is approximately MOP$103 for HK$100 as of February 2004. For United States dollars, to which the Hong Kong dollar is in turn loosely pegged, the exchange rate is around 8 patacas to 1 US dollar. While it is possible to exchange patacas in Macau, it is difficult, if not impossible, to do so outside the territory, even in Hong Kong.

Despite the pataca being the legal tender of Macau, the Hong Kong dollar is preferred for most commerce. Some casinos go as far as rejecting bets from people equipped with the MOP currency. These people may overcome this by exchanging their patacas into Hong Kong dollars at the nearest currency exchange agency. The Hong Kong dollar and renminbi are generally accepted throughout Macau from casinos to restaurants.

As there are currently no restrictions on the import or export of either local or foreign currency into or from Macau, visitors can change their currency in hotels, banks and authorized exchange dealers located all around the city. There are also 24-hour exchange counters at Macau International Airport (Taipa Island) and at the Lisboa Hotel (Macau Peninsula) for customers if they want to change their currency into patacas outside working hours.

ee also

* Economy of Macau
* Portuguese Timorese pataca

References

*numis cite SCWC|date=2004
*numis cite SCWPM|date=2005
*numis cite SCWPM|date=1960.8
*numis cite SCWPM|date=1990.s

External links

Standard numismatics external links
world_coin_gallery_1_url = Macau
world_coin_gallery_1_name = Macau
banknote_world_1_url = Macau
banknote_world_1_name = Macau
dollarization_1_url = asia
dollarization_1_name = Asia
gfd_1_url = Macau
gfd_1_name = Macau
gfd_data_1_url = 6093
gfd_data_1_name = Macau Pataca
show_gfd_excel = Y
* [http://www.macaocenter.com/Macau%20Currency.html Macau Currency] - Macau Currency Info
*zh icon pt icon en icon [http://www.bnu.com.mo/ Banco Nacional Ultramarino (Macau)]
*zh icon pt icon en icon [http://www.bnu.com.mo/en/about_us/bnu_notes/Pagina%20Principal.htm Banknotes issued by the Banco Nacional Ultramarino.]
*zh icon en icon [http://www.bocmacau.com/ Bank of China (Macau)]
*zh icon en icon [http://www.sinobanknote.net/ SinoBanknote]
*zh icon [http://www.cityguide.gov.mo/money/main.htm City guide with coins and banknotes]