China issues its first AI-themed legal tender coin set in September

ME News report, August 28 (UTC+8), Beating AI Bulletin: The People’s Bank of China will issue a series of gold and silver commemorative coins titled “Science and Technology Innovation for the Future (Artificial Intelligence),” consisting of three coins: one gold coin and two silver coins, all legal tender. The gold coin weighs 5 grams and measures 18 mm square, featuring on its reverse side elements such as a microchip, brain-like circuits, and binary digits 0 and 1. Each of the two silver coins weighs 15 grams and features designs incorporating facial recognition, circuits, spiral dot matrices, keys, and AI symbols. The gold coin has a face value of 80 yuan, with a maximum mintage of 10,000 pieces; each silver coin has a face value of 5 yuan, with a maximum mintage of 20,000 pieces each. Note that the face value does not represent the sale price. The face value of precious metal commemorative coins primarily signifies their status as legal tender; the actual selling price depends on factors such as the cost of gold and silver raw materials and production expenses. During the design submission period in March this year, organizers explicitly permitted designers to use AI tools as aids in their creative process but prohibited direct submission of AI-generated content. The three coins were originally designated to represent: foundational research in artificial intelligence, technology for good, and the application of “AI +” across various industries. (Source: BlockBeats)