Singapore, 9 April 2003......The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) invites entries for an open international competition to select designs for the Third Series Chinese Almanac coins, which will be issued yearly from 2005 to 2016. Entries are invited from the general public.

2   MAS has since 1981, been issuing coins based on the 12 animals in the Chinese Almanac. To date, two series of the Almanac coins have been issued. The design for the First Series Almanac coins was based on realistic representation of the 12 animals while the Second Series depict the animals in traditional Chinese paper cut design. The current (Second) series of Chinese Almanac coins will end in 2004 with the Monkey design.

3   Entrants can participate in the international competition either as an individual or a team. The winner will receive prize money of US$15,000. Up to five merit awards of US$1,000 each would also be given. The competition closes on 31 July 2003 and entries have to be received by noon that day.

4   Coins bearing designs of the "Sheng Xiao" or the Chinese Almanac are very popular in Singapore. "Sheng Xiao" refers to the twelve animals used by the Chinese people to symbolise the earthly branches as shown below:

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