At the ongoing exhibition, Traveling Around the World: Chinese Dragons on Banknotes and Coins, currency exhibits are on display, showing the dragon grow to become ancient China's imperial symbol. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Countries like Australia and Palau have also released commemorative coins to mark the most recent Year of the Dragon in 2012, and a special section for these has been set up at the exhibition.

"When you look at the use of dragon totems in currency through the ages, the exhibition actually reflects all the changes witnessed in Chinese society," Wang Peiwu, director of the Beijing Ancient Numismatic Exhibition Hall, says. "But now dragon has taken on a new meaning: It represents a revival of Chinese civilization in the modern world."

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If you go

9:30-4 pm, Mondays closed, through Jan 13. Beijing Ancient Numismatic Exhibition Hall, Deshengmen Archery Tower, 9 Deshengmen Dong Dajie (Avenue), Xicheng district, Beijing.