Macau 1992 - 5 Patacas

Type: Circulation coin
Year: 1992
KM #: 56
Composition: Copper-Nickel
Weight: 10.100 g
12-sided planchet

Obverse: MACAU written across territorial emblem with date below

The reverse depicts a three-masted lorcha against the background of the facade of the Ruinas de Sao Paolo. The obverse depicts the territorial emblem. the ornate granite facade featured on the reverse is one of the hallmark architectures of Macau. The facade and 68 stone steps are all that remained of St. Paul's Church, the church of the Jesuit college of Madre de Deus, after a fire in 1835. The church was built by Chinese and Japanese Christian craftsmen between 1620 and 1630 according to a design by an Italian Jesuit, Carlo Spinola. In 1987 the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration was signed that set forth arrangements for Macao's handover to China in 1999. In consequence thereof Macau's circulation coins issued after 1987 use the territorial emblem, replacing the Portuguese coat-of-arms that was in use prior thereto.

Lorcha:  The lorcha is a type of sailing vessel having a Chinese junk rig on a Portuguese or European style hull. The vessel is faster and able to carry more cargo than the normal Chinese junk because of its hull structure. The vessel was developed around 1550 in Macau, then a Portuguese colony in China. This hybrid type of vessel sailed faster than traditional pirate ships and it began to be used by British traders after the First Opium War.

Source:
1. from Book - Watercraft on World Coins by Yossi Dotan, Volume II America and Asia, 1800 - 2008

2. Wikipedia

Click here to see other coins with watercrafts, in my collection.