The Macao Monetary Authority (MMA) began on Thursday to issue gold and silver coins to mark the coming Year of Monkey, which will fall on January 22 upon China's lunar calendar.

The Monkey coins are the last of a series of coins of 12 zodiac symbols that MMA has entrusted the British Royal Banknote Printing and Minting Corp to mint.

The highest nominal value of the gold coin is 1,000 patacas (US$125) and that of silver coin 100 patacas (US$12.5).

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2004)