China issues commemorative coins to mark completion of its space station

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China’s central bank, issued a set of gold and silver commemorative coins to mark the completion of the country’s Tiangong space station on Jan. 9, according to the bank’s website.

Photo shows the front side of the gold coin. (Photo/PBOC)

Photo shows the reverse side of the gold coin. (Photo/PBOC)

The coins, which consist of a 3-gram gold piece and a 30-gram silver piece, are all legal tender.

The front of each coin features China’s national emblem, official name and the year of issuance.

The gold coin features the country’s space station, the Earth, a Chinese astronaut, the official logo of China manned space engineering, Chinese characters reading “China’s space station,” and the coin’s face value on the reverse side.

The reverse side of the silver coin shows Chinese astronauts conducting extravehicular activities, a schematic diagram of China’s three-step manned space program, the official logo of China manned space engineering, Chinese characters reading “China’s space station,” and the coin’s face value.

Photo shows the front side of the silver coin. (Photo/PBOC)

Photo shows the reverse side of the silver coin. (Photo/PBOC)

The gold coin has a diameter of 18 mm, contains 3 grams of 99.9 percent pure gold and has a denomination of 50 yuan (about $7.42). Up to 20,000 gold coins were issued.

The silver coin has a diameter of 40 mm, contains 30 grams of 99.9 percent pure silver and has a denomination of 10 yuan. Up to 50,000 silver coins were issued.