In the past, an assortment of ethnic minorities and communist leaders adorned China’s renminbi (RMB) or “people’s currency”, whose principal unit is the yuan.

    However, in 1999 a new series of banknotes was progressively introduced, all of which featured Mao Zedong in three-quarters profile, his beatific gaze fixed on an indubitably bright future. Although individual banknotes varied in size and color, the Great Helmsman’s picture was the same on each and every bill.

    Critics have argued that this new series of banknotes indicates a troubling trend towards conformity in Chinese thinking and is part of a larger process of rehabilitation that Mao’s public persona has undergone in the decades since his death during the waning years of the Cultural Revolution.

    But a week ago, Mao’s calm countenance was usurped, albeit temporarily, by a force seemingly more powerful than even the Chairman’s lasting legacy in modern China. I’m talking, of course, about the Olympics.

    China’s central bank issued 6 million new 10-yuan notes on Tuesday, July 8, which feature a sketch of the National Stadium or Bird's Nest, the “dancing man” emblem of the Beijing Games, and a Greek discus-thrower in case you still didn't understand that it's the Olympics, stupid.

    Granted, the Central Bank has issued limited runs of commemorative currency in the past, most notably 100-yuan bills with Mao's face replaced by a golden dragon to celebrate the new millennium. But those banknotes failed to elicit even an iota of the enthusiasm engendered by the Olympics-themed bluebacks.

    Already, Chinese media are reporting that enterprising entrepreneurs, in order to circumvent the one-per-person rule intended to prevent hoarding, are paying street urchins and migrant workers to wait in line at banks and pick up the new bills. These savvy philatelists can then sell the relatively rare 10-yuan notes for thousands of RMB apiece as limited-edition collectors items. It’s capitalism in its purest form. Selling money for even more money.

    Counterfeit currency has long been a problem in China (if only I could lay my hands on the cab driver who slipped me a fake fifty the other night, I’d let a hundred beatdowns bloom on his garlic-eating…., but I digress). And as discerning citizens become increasingly adept at detecting suspect 100 and 50-yuan bills, forged ten-spots have flooded the market. Expect to see fakes of the Bird’s Nest bills coming soon. Mao must be rolling over in his mausoleum.