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Real-looking play money still on sale in Hanoi
Tiny, high quality imitation bank notes intended for play, with ‘face values’ of between VND 10,000 and VND 500,000 are still displayed openly for sale though the State Bank of Vietnam has declared that the sale of the play money is illegal.
Since local newspapers quoted officials as saying that the sale of play money copying real Vietnamese notes is illegal, big toy shops on Kim Ma and Luong Van Can streets in Hanoi no longer display the imitation bank notes. However, it’s still possible to purchase the play money in the ‘Underground way’.
When reporters said they wanted to buy some play money, the owner of a shop on Kim Ma street said that she could give the ‘money’ straight away if only a small volume was needed. However, to obtain a lot of ‘money,’ the reporters would have to return the next day, she said. “As the sale of play money is prohibited, we dare not keep it in big quantity,” she said.
Meanwhile, on small alleys near elementary schools like Quan Tho, Nguyen Khang and Nui Truc, the imitation bank notes are on open sale.
Most of the imitation bank notes are only one-quarter of the size of a real bank note. However, the imitation bank notes have the colour and print quality of real bank notes.
A toy shop owner on Nui Truc street said the imitation money has been imported from China.
The ‘banknotes’ made of different materials. Some, made of cotton paper, are the size of matchboxes, and have face values of 5,000, 10,000, 100,000 and 200,000 dong. Children like the money because the bank notes are colourful and look like real money.
The sale prices of toy bank notes do not depend on the ‘face value’ of the money, but on the material of the ‘bank notes’. The cotton ‘bank notes’ are selling at 200 dong per sheet of A4 paper, while plasticized ‘bank notes’ are more expensive, 1,000 dong per sheet.
In fact, not only children, are buying the play money, but adults as well, who purchase the money for souvenirs or collections.
According to an expert, the play money has been printed with offset technology that allows to very accurate reproduction.
Trinh Van Ngoc, Head of the Hanoi Market Control Agency, said the play money is a new product, raising an issue which needs thorough consideration.
“We will discuss the play money issue with relevant ministries, and settle the problem when there is a final decision” Ngoc said.
Meanwhile, according to Nguyen Tat Huynh of the Issue and Vault Department of the State Bank, representatives of relevant ministries met on April 17 to discuss the issue. They concluded that because the play money is valueless for making payments, it is just ’play money,’ not ‘counterfeit money’. However, the photocopying of Vietnam’s money in any form and for any purpose without permission in writing from the State Bank of Vietnam is strictly prohibited. Therefore, the printing and trading of the play money must be seen as illegal.
Huynh said that maybe the sellers of the play money themselves do not know that they are violating the laws. Therefore, the things that needs to be done now is to discover the source of the play money and to explain the law to people.
vietnamnet, vneconomy
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