Hunting for lucky money printed with dragon image

The habit of buying commemorative money printed with the zodiac animal has been maintained by a 28-year-old girl in Hai Phong since 2018 to give to relatives and friends on New Year's Day.

"My family has many children and grandchildren. I can't afford to give them high-value lucky money, but if it's too low, people will say I'm stingy. So I choose commemorative bills printed with images of the zodiac animals of each year. They're beautiful, unique, and meaningful," Thuy said.

At the end of December, Duc Cuong, 32 years old, in Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi also ordered dozens of gold-plated $2 bills with dragon images and commemorative money from China and Singapore.

Depending on the preferences and personality of the recipient, Cuong will choose bills with suitable designs. For example, business partners will give a $2 gold-plated American dragon bill to symbolize luck and prosperity. Meanwhile, relatives and friends choose commemorative paper money, old money or gold-plated coins because of their eye-catching colors and unique designs.

"Giving cash is too predictable, so I want to stir up the atmosphere and create curiosity for the person receiving the lucky money on the first day of spring," said the 32-year-old man.

Mr. Vuong Chinh, 37 years old, owner of a shop specializing in providing commemorative money, old money, and coins in Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, said that the demand for giving money printed with images of zodiac animals during Tet has been popular for about 10 years. Customers mainly choose money that has no circulation value on the market, commemorative money issued on the occasion of Tet in other countries, or gold-plated coins.

Explaining why money printed with zodiac signs attracts customers at the end of the year, Mr. Chinh said it is because of the beautiful design, diverse colors, wishes for luck and peace in the new year and the selling price ranges from cheap to mid-range.

Compared to the collection of coins of other zodiac animals, the shop owner said that this year's dragon-printed coins are more diverse in design and style. Currently, Mr. Chinh owns more than 10 different products, divided into three types: paper money from Singapore, Bhutan (currently not in circulation on the market), 2 USD coins from the US; commemorative coins issued to celebrate the New Year of Macao, China; gold-plated coins from Australia and Hong Kong. Depending on the product, the selling price ranges from 10,000-30,000 VND for commemorative coins, while gold-plated coins and USD coins are about 100,000-200,000 VND per product.

"My customers are of all ages, most young people prefer commemorative coins, while those with good finances choose gold-plated products to give to their partners," said Mr. Chinh.

As the year comes to an end, the demand for buying and selling increases. Currently, Mr. Chinh's shop receives an average of nearly 100 orders for money printed with dragon images every day. During the consultation process for customers, the seller always emphasizes that all money printed with dragon images and other zodiac animals have no circulation or exchange value, but are only meant for souvenirs, gifts, decorations or collections.

In addition to foreign dragon-printed commemorative coins, Mr. Chinh also owns two 500-dong Indochinese banknotes issued in 1942-1945. The front side has a dragon in the clouds, the back side has a picture of six people bailing water with a bucket in rural Vietnam. The collector said that these are old coins, of relatively high value, and are only for collection. Currently, the selling price of each note ranges from 3-5 million dong or higher if the product is new and more beautiful.

In addition to traditional stores, e-commerce platforms have also recorded the increase of hundreds of businesses selling commemorative dragon-printed money, at prices 10-20% cheaper. Main items include gold-plated $2 dragon bills, Macao dragon Patacas, Hong Kong gold coins or dragon-engraved coins sold in combos.

Seeing that the price of the dragon-printed commemorative banknotes was quite cheap and shipping was free, Bao Binh, from Hanoi, ordered 20 Bhutanese banknotes. The 25-year-old man rated this New Year gift as quite beautiful, eye-catching, and not considered "working but giving little money as a New Year gift".

"It's 20,000 VND per note, both cheap and beautiful. If each red envelope had 50,000-100,000 VND, my salary for the whole month wouldn't be enough to cover it," Binh said.

He also said he will choose this way of giving lucky money for the following years because it suits his economic conditions.