Chinese Zodiac Masterpiece Series—Mao Rabbit Silver Medal

99.9% pure silver

60 mm

3 oz

3,000 pieces

The Year 2023 is Kui-Mao Year of the Rabbit. The image on the obverse of the silver medal is based on the freehand painting “Rabbit”, with exquisite Chinese calligraphy of the characters for “Mao Rabbit” by Professor Au Ho-nien, a great master of the Lingnan painting school. A verse in “The Ballad of Mulan” supplied the inspiration for the depiction of the female rabbit’s eyes: “The buck’s feet are a blur, the doe’s eyes are narrowed”. The virtuoso engraving and coinage techniques of Central Mint amply demonstrate the charm of the master’s brushwork.

The medal’s reverse shows the Qing dynasty “Jadeite Cabbage”, a treasure housed in the National Palace Museum, against a gourd-shaped opening and coin patterns. The jadeite cabbage is shown with its stand, which symbolizes great wealth and blessings. The Chinese word for gourd sounds like the word for “fortune and prosperity”, while the word for vine sounds much like “10,000 generations”. The two insects on the cabbage symbolize abundant progeny.

(Image taken from National Palace Museum OPEN DATA)