Junk Silver Series; 1999 Macau 100 Patacas; Macau's Return to China Commemorative Coin.

For clarification from a previous post, I’ve deliberately named this series of posts; Junk Silver Series as a ‘play’ on words. While the #sgs community at large apply this colorful colloquial term to all silver business coins, I will be referring to the literal and historical Chinese Junk ship. As we say, “Together we learn.”

A part of my Stacking adventures are the semi-quarterly planned expeditions to see Jim at my not-so-local-enough Coin shop and find what shiny goods he has in stock. That clear fall day yielded me a Portuguese coin, a 5 oz. Scottsdale Stacker round, an RCM Commemorative of the Bluenose Schooner, a handful of free coin capsules and this lovely Macau Commemorative silver coin. This was an elusive coin that I had an eye on Ebay.ca for some time. A piece that resisted shedding it’s typical issue premium until the day I walked into Jim’s store.

As a combined purchase I got even a sweeter deal off the current sale tag price, and I paid in cash. The sweetest is this Macau coin that came complete with all the bulky, yet original oriental boxes. This was one of a group of five packages inside a tall glass display case and I’m thinking of getting another one should any remain on my next expedition.

The ships of both cultures on the same face are emblematic of my Asian ancestry, the west meeting the east. A Portuguese caravel and a Chinese junk with Macau in the background, the gold gilded inset of the Historical Ma Gao Temple. Officially this coin celebrated the establishment of Macau as a special Administrative Region on December 1999.

I see it a bit different. My direct ancestors sought the freedom and opportunities in the western world a few generations ago. The immigrants of Chinese from Macau and Hong Kong just prior to 1997 were not much different than those who came to British Columbia in 1858.

1999 was some year. I remember pulling plenty of long shifts at my first health facility to pay down my new huge mortgage on my first home. The years leading up to 1999 was the steady inflow of Asians coming into Vancouver to make it their home, it was almost like an exodus. There was an unspoken underlying fear of the incoming Communist management at both Hong Kong and Macau. Uncertainty to the point that economic capital couldn’t afford to wait for assurances made it’s move and spilled upon the shores of a city remembered by an earlier generation of Chines sojourners as the ‘Saltwater city’.

Their mothers or guardian drove a conservative BMW, Benz, SAAB or similar styled sedan. When I had my sons enrolled into a reputable Christian private school their class comprised more than 90% Asian. While my children were subsidized enrollment I can see many students were dropped off and picked up in those expensive cars. I drove an old Honda at the time, which cost me less than it was to insure it.

Many students are young boys and girls of Senior High school aged from well-to-do families that lived here while their executive manager father continued to work in Hong Kong or China.

At parent Teacher meetings they often keep to themselves at first and that was understandable even from the local born Chinese living in Vancouver. Most immigrant parents spoke Mandarin and decent ‘Engrish’. There were a few families that spoke Portuguese that gathered at a specific area in the school, likely from Macau, few spoke Cantonese. I sometimes got the feeling that I wasn’t worth getting to know but the Teaching staff were awesome.

By this time the new immigrants have successfully integrating within the greater Asian community to some extent. Business and development boomed sending real estate prices skyward. The City of Richmond located south of Vancouver saw a huge boom of Asian oriented shopping centers and condominium properties. In effect the city of Richmond became the new modern Chinatown. Yes, that Investment capital came and as always there was a catch that came with it to our shores.

I couldn’t help thinking how the People’s Republic of China had so much sway in the internal affairs of Canada. Allowing the flow of capital from China may have been a planned act in enticing our government to throw our doors open. An economic carrot dangled in front of our officials and law makers.

What is unsettling is my government’s lack of restrictions concerning sovereignty overreach by the Peoples Republic of China’s alleged ‘Police’ precincts located here in Canada. And the issue has not been dealt with to my satisfaction.

I hear plenty of stories around these Chinese Family support offices. The rumors from Chinese Nationals as well as Chinese Canadians are brushed aside as ‘misinformation’. I’d elaborate but at the risk of seeing Family Support officers come knocking at my door.

The #piratesunday tag is the scurvy scheme of Captain @stokjockey for #silvergoldstackers pirates to proudly showcase their shiny booty and plunder for all to see. Landlubbers arrrh… welcomed to participate and be a Pirate at heart so open yer treasure chests an’ show us what booty yea got!

1996 Portugal 200 Escudos Discovery of Macau Commemorative Silver coin.
1996 North Korea 250 Won The Return of Hong Kong Commemorative Silver coin.

Saltwater City, by Paul Yee, . University of Washington Press 1988. ISBN 0-88894-616-3.
NGC; 1999 Macau 100 Patacas Macau’s Return to China Commemorative Silver coin.
1999 Macau 100 Patacas Banco Nacional Ultramarino Banknote.
Photos are my own shot with an ancient 2018 Samsung SM-A530W or otherwise indicated.
P. Image under Pixabay
W. Wiki Commons
☠️🎃 Page Dividers by thekittygirl. ❄️🌞
Cameo Raven Brooch from The Black Wardrobe.
The 2024 Hive 0.999 Silver Round.
The background for these photographs is a chart by Rigobert Bonne, a French Cartographer in 1780, Published in “Atlas de Torurtes les Parties Connues du Globe Terrestre, Dresse pour l’Histoire Philosphique & Politique des Establishments & du Commerce des Europeens dan les Deux Indes” by G.T. Raynad. Size 9 ½ x 16 5/8 inches.