Banknotes featuring horse images are attracting customers.

To celebrate the Lunar New Year of the Horse, many people are searching for banknotes featuring horses, such as the Mongolian tugrik, which is the old 50 dong note of Vietnam.

Mr. Chinh (Dong Da, Hanoi), a specialist in buying and selling unique banknotes, said that this year's Year of the Horse Tet holiday saw particular interest in banknotes featuring horses as gifts for good luck. Among these, the most common are Mongolian notes and the old 50 dong notes from Vietnam.

Mongolian currency currently comes in five main denominations: 5 tugrik, 10 tugrik, 20 tugrik, 50 tugrik, and 100 tugrik. These banknotes all feature images of horses and are sold by Mr. Chinh for between 13,000 and 100,000 VND per note, depending on the quantity and serial number.

"Customers mainly buy them as gifts, presents, or New Year's lucky money, with the meaning of wishing good luck and success. Considering the very small denominations of the coins, they are not used for payments or transactions," Mr. Chinh explained.

Mongolian currency featuring horses comes in many different denominations. (Photo: Provided by the author)

Anh Quân, who also sells unique banknotes online, explains that Mongolian banknotes of all denominations feature a horse image. However, to make them easier to sell, he mainly imports those with smaller denominations. "Essentially, the owner desires good luck, not the monetary value, so the denomination doesn't matter," he said.

He also said that importing this type of banknote isn't as difficult as some other unique banknotes and is receiving attention from customers ahead of the Lunar New Year of the Horse because of its horse image. He received his first shipment in November. To date, through both wholesale and retail sales, Mr. Quan has sold approximately 1,200 of these banknotes.

Along with Mongolian currency, this Tet holiday, Mr. Chinh also introduced old 50 dong banknotes, issued in Southern Vietnam since 1972. To acquire these banknotes, he had to search extensively from various sources, resulting in a relatively high price, ranging from 70,000 to 80,000 dong per note. Those with attractive serial numbers can fetch around 200,000 dong.

Mr. Chinh started selling these banknotes at the beginning of last month, and so far, thousands have been sold. "However, many people in Hanoi and other provinces are now placing wholesale and retail orders. Therefore, I only prioritize large orders," Mr. Chinh said. Regarding the quality of these banknotes, all wholesalers say they are 100% new and have consecutive serial numbers.

Besides the two aforementioned banknotes, this year, several commemorative banknotes such as the one-dollar bill and the "one million dollar" note, printed specifically for this year's Lunar New Year, are also selling quite well.

"The million-dollar bills, printed with horse images on both sides to symbolize 'success and prosperity,' are being sold for 60,000 to 80,000 VND each this Lunar New Year, specifically for giving as lucky money. Meanwhile, one-dollar bills are priced at 400,000 VND each," said Mr. Bich, a trader in Ho Chi Minh City. He added that he has a fairly large stock of these bills, so there's no price surge.

Besides unique banknotes featuring horses, many businesses selling these items are also finding ways to refresh familiar products. For example, this year, Mr. Chinh's shop offers uncut 2 USD bills, bills with star-shaped serial numbers, or bills with printing errors. Uncut 2 USD bills, which are still attached and not yet cut for circulation, are offered at prices ranging from 1.2 to 16 million VND depending on the quantity. 2 USD bills with a star at the end of the serial number instead of a letter, or bills with printing errors, are sold for several hundred thousand to 3 million VND each.

"These types are usually rare and hard to find, so they are more expensive. Therefore, they don't sell as well as Mongolian currency and 50 dong notes," Mr. Chinh said. To attract customers, some money shop owners also offer promotional lucky money envelopes with horse images on the outside, along with couplets and New Year greetings...

According to VNEXPRESS