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Hello Kitty goes on euro
AFP ^ | Fri Dec 2, 2005

Posted on 12/03/2005 11:00:18 AM PST by presidio9

Hello Kitty, the mouthless cat turned global icon of cuteness, will make a foray into the currency market with gold and silver euro coins showing her having the time of her life in Paris.

Order-taking will start Monday for a total of 4,000 coins in five different designs to be minted in Paris, according to Hello Kitty's maker Sanrio and Japanese firm Taisei Coins.

The designs are drawn on "the dreams and admiration for Paris that Kitty has," Sanrio said on its website.

The most expensive one-ounce gold coin is priced at 168,000 yen (1,400 dollars, 1,200 euros) each, compared with a face value of 50 euros.

The coin has a color image of Kitty in a ballroom gown dancing with her boyfriend Daniel in their "Versailles Debut."

A smaller gold coin, priced at 52,500 yen, is titled "Kitty Becomes an Opera Singer" and shows the feline heroine in a black floor-length dress.

Three types of silver coins, each priced at 8,400 yen, are also on sale, featuring Kittys taking in a Parisian cafe, flying over the city with an umbrella and shopping on the Champs-Elysees.

The coins, each fit in a special miniature handbag, can be purchased at Taisei coin shops in Japan or through the two companies' websites.

Hello Kitty, which started in 1974 in Japan as a moonfaced cartoon cat on a coin purse, has spread to 60 nations appearing on 50,000 different products.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Germany; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: alfpog; currency; euro; europeanunion; hellokitty; toys
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1 posted on 12/03/2005 11:00:18 AM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9

2 posted on 12/03/2005 11:02:39 AM PST by BenLurkin (O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
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To: presidio9

http://zippythepinhead.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ZTP&Product_Code=zipkitty&Category_Code=


3 posted on 12/03/2005 11:05:10 AM PST by Hillarys Gate Cult
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To: presidio9; BenLurkin

Are there any other coin designs which include what appears to be enamel work? Strange.


4 posted on 12/03/2005 11:05:38 AM PST by GSlob
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To: GSlob

Yes indeed.

http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/magazine/issue10/iss10p6.html


5 posted on 12/03/2005 11:08:18 AM PST by BenLurkin (O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
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To: GSlob
Collector's editions I would assume.

Like the colorized version of the US quarters.

6 posted on 12/03/2005 11:08:39 AM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (When the First Amendment was written dueling was common and legal. Think about it.)
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To: presidio9
We hear of France manning the barricades against the onslaught of treacherous cheeseburgers, but then this?
7 posted on 12/03/2005 11:12:40 AM PST by gaijin
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To: BenLurkin

Thanks. I would not call these "coins" though, but rather "medallions". Coins are [at least in theory] legal tender, to be bounced around in purses, pockets and cash registers.


8 posted on 12/03/2005 11:15:17 AM PST by GSlob
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To: GSlob

Looks like they'll never see circulation.


9 posted on 12/03/2005 11:16:39 AM PST by BunnySlippers
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To: presidio9

That should scare the terrorists.

10 posted on 12/03/2005 11:18:10 AM PST by Moonman62 (Federal creed: If it moves tax it. If it keeps moving regulate it. If it stops moving subsidize it)
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: BenLurkin
Hello Kitty in a Burka...


12 posted on 12/03/2005 11:19:13 AM PST by Dallas59 (“You love life, while we love death"( Al-Qaeda & Democratic Party)
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To: presidio9

Make believe money for a make believe economy.

13 posted on 12/03/2005 11:19:34 AM PST by Moonman62 (Federal creed: If it moves tax it. If it keeps moving regulate it. If it stops moving subsidize it)
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To: Moonman62
Heck it scares ME!

There is something strange about a cat with no mouth.

14 posted on 12/03/2005 11:19:40 AM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (When the First Amendment was written dueling was common and legal. Think about it.)
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To: presidio9

Hello Kitty Euros? LOL! You are defecating me, right?


15 posted on 12/03/2005 11:19:51 AM PST by FormerACLUmember
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To: Moonman62
Make believe money for a make believe economy.

Indeed. The inscription says "Like a Dream" (comme an reve).

16 posted on 12/03/2005 11:21:41 AM PST by Petronski (Cyborg is the greatest blessing I have ever known.)
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To: presidio9
Proving to the world that the Euro is a joke.

The Euro: not to be taken seriously!

17 posted on 12/03/2005 11:21:52 AM PST by the anti-liberal (Hey, Al Qaeda: Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent)
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To: Petronski

Ooops: "comme un reve." Sounds the same.


18 posted on 12/03/2005 11:22:44 AM PST by Petronski (Cyborg is the greatest blessing I have ever known.)
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To: Petronski

I took French for a semester. Everything sounded the same to me.


19 posted on 12/03/2005 11:24:43 AM PST by Moonman62 (Federal creed: If it moves tax it. If it keeps moving regulate it. If it stops moving subsidize it)
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To: presidio9
Here's the real version of Hello Kitty that lurks in Europe's near future:


20 posted on 12/03/2005 11:27:31 AM PST by Charles Martel
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