Local residents queued up at major banks since morning yesterday to get their hands on 5-yuan commemorative coins issued by the People’s Bank of China.

昨日中国人民银行发行纪念版五元硬币，自清晨便有居民人在当地各大银行排队等候购买。

The PBOC issued 50 million 5-yuan brass coins nationwide yesterday that has the Chinese character “Harmony” on the back. The coin costs 5 yuan and can be used as currency.

中国人民银行昨日在全国范围内发行5000万枚5元黄铜硬币，背面主景图案为“和”字的行书书法。这些硬币面额5元，可与普通货币一样用于流通。

More than 60 residents had lined up at the gate of a Bank of Shanghai branch in downtown even before it opened. Most of them were middle-aged and elderly people. Some of them were holding children or carried folding chairs.

在上海市中心，60多名居民在上海银行分行营业之前就在大门外等候。其中大部分都是中老年人，还有些甚至抱着孩子或带上折叠椅排队购币。

The first woman in the queue, surnamed Zhao, said she reached the bank about 6am. She was not a coin collector but came to the bank for her husband who was on night shift.

排在队伍最前面的赵女士说，她早晨6点就已赶到银行。她不是硬币收藏家，但她的丈夫爱好硬币，由于要值夜班，只能代替他前来购币。

When the bank opened at 8am, 10 people were allowed to enter the bank at a time and each person could only get one coin. Some of them queued up several times to collect as many coins as possible.

银行8点开始营业，每次只允许10人进入，每人限购一枚。有些人为了多买些硬币还排了好几次队。

“I will keep one and give the other coins to my friends as gifts,”said an office worker surnamed Zhang.

一位姓张的办公室职员说：“我自己留一枚，其余的当礼物送给朋友。”

Residents can also get the coins at the branches of other major banks including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank, but according to an STV news report, most of the coins were sold out by yesterday morning. But there were some still available at some coin markets.

当地居民可以在其他银行支行分购硬币，包括中国工商银行、中国银行和中国建设银行。但据上海新闻电视台播报，大多数硬币已在昨日早晨被一抢而空。但可能一些硬币市场上还有部分尚未售罄。

This is the third set of coins issued by central bank since 2009 which carry the Chinese inscription “Harmony.”

这是自2009年以来央行发行的第三套含有“和”字图案的普通纪念币。

The first set of 10 million 1-yuan coins was issued on November 26, 2009, while the second 2-yuan set of 50 million coins was released on November 9 the next year.

2009年11月26日套1元纪念币问世，发行总量1000万枚；第二套是5000万枚2元纪念币，已于2010年11月9日发行。