Long lines for commemorative Year of the Dragon coin sets

Long lines for commemorative Year of the Dragon coin sets

2024-01-22

This year, the central bank is selling 90,000 commemorative coin sets for the Year of the Dragon. Half of them were sold online, and counter sales for the remaining sets started on Monday. In Taipei, hundreds of people braved the cold to get their hands on the coins. Over in Taitung, a man had started queuing on Sunday, for a total wait time of 17 hours.

A long line wraps around the block. Despite the cold, people came out to buy a commemorative Year of the Dragon coin set on Monday. This year, just 45,000 sets are available at bank counters. At this sales point, sales started at 9 a.m. The first customer arrived at 4 a.m. He waited five hours for his purchase and left with a smile.

First customer
My grandson’s zodiac animal is a dragon, and so is my daughter’s. I missed out on these coins 12 years ago. It’s the Year of the Dragon again, but I couldn’t manage to place an order online. So I got up early in the morning to make sure I could buy them.

Customers were given numbers as they walked into the building. With the Year of the Dragon ahead, demand has been especially high. Earlier this month, the online sales system crashed upon launch. To handle in-person sales, the bank opened four counters, instead of the one or two in previous years.

Joseph Lyu
Bank of Taiwan chair
Some of our colleagues had been preparing for this for three days. By 8 a.m. there were already 100 people in line.

Demand was also high in Taitung, with a long line of 100 meters forming at a sales point. The first customer had arrived on Sunday and waited 17 hours to buy.

Customer
I came here at 3 p.m. yesterday, more or less. I just wanted to give a present to my child.

Many customers were buying coins as gifts for children and grandchildren. At Bank of Taiwan branches nationwide, the festival spirit was in the air, as locals looked ahead to spending time with their loved ones.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

4.5萬套"龍年紀念套幣"臨櫃開賣民眾冒低溫排隊

2024-01-22

每到農曆年前，央行都會發行生肖紀念套幣，接下來要迎接的是龍年，因此買氣特別旺。今年共發行9萬套，網路和臨櫃各半，月初開放網購時就大當機，週一臨櫃開賣更是人氣強強滾。台北有民眾凌晨四點冒著低溫排隊，台東則是有人排了17小時，就是為了買給孩子紀念。

人潮綿延不絕，轉過一個彎，再轉個彎，寒流來襲，民眾吹風排隊，為的就是搶央行發行的龍年紀念套幣，全台限量4.5萬套臨櫃販售。9點開賣，在台北總行頭香民眾，凌晨四點就來，排了五小時拿到，瞬間眉開眼笑。

[[頭香民眾]]
“(孫子)他是屬龍的，然後我女兒也是屬龍的 (12年前)沒有買到，所以今年龍年，上網沒有買到，起個大早，一定要買到”

一個個進入，領號碼牌，因為即將迎來的是龍年，買氣特別旺，不只先前網路預購塞車，過去幾年現場只開一、兩個櫃台賣，今年加開到四個。

[[台銀董事長呂桔誠]]
“有同仁從3天前就已經來預備好，8點就已經排了100個人了”

全台各地買氣旺，台東分行也搶買人潮，隊伍長達100公尺，最早的前一天下午就來卡位，排了17小時。

[[民眾]]
“(前一天)下午3點半左右，只是想給小孩子一個禮物”

不少人買了，要給子孫當傳家寶，每年生肖套幣開賣，也預告著距離農曆春節越來越近，為新年討個吉利。

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