Blessings are an integral element of Chinese culture. In offering them with a coin, medal, or other traditional method of well-wishing, the giver expresses to the recipient a wish or hope for their future happiness.

Written and spoken Chinese lends itself particularly well to symbolism and double meaning. Through the graphic symbols of the written language and the overlap of similar-sounding words, the culture has evolved a tradition of employing letters, sounds, and images to convey robust messages with amplified meaning. These messages are readily understood within Chinese and Chinese Canadian culture.

This coin features a beautifully coloured and engraved design conferring upon its owner blessings of happiness, success, long life, joy, and good fortune.

This coin features a series of symbolic images representing the traditional Five Blessings of Chinese culture. In a polished crescent on the left side of the coin appear five animals that traditionally connote blessings, including a bat for happiness, a deer for career success, a crane for long life, and two magpies for joy. The right side of the coin is richly decorated with circular imagery overlaid with the Chinese symbol used to offer a wish for good fortune.

• The character for "good fortune" is not a formal or spoken word, but rather an ideogram used in some regions to convey a wish or hope for good fortune.
• The number "5" is considered to be of imperial significance and auspicious in Chinese tradition because of the central position of the 9 single digit numbers. "5" is usually used as the number for repeated designs or decorations used in the imperial court of China.
• The concept of "prospects" and the word for bat (fu) are homophones in spoken Chinese. The bat has thus become a well-known symbol for "good prospects."
• The notion of success, particularly emolument or success related to one’s salary, is homophonic with the word for deer in spoken Chinese (lu). The deer is thus used to connote the qualities of endurance, longevity, and grace that provide one with a positive position in life.
• The crane has long been associated with the notion of longevity in Chinese tradition. In art and literature, it is often portrayed in the presence of elders and gods and its white feathers recall the white hair of old age. As a long-lived bird with high status in Chinese imperial tradition, it is an ideal symbol for longevity.
• The word for "joy"—xi—is the first sound in the word for "magpie" (xi que), making the magpie a symbol associated with luck and happiness. When two magpies are portrayed facing one another, as on this coin, the recipient’s happiness is doubled.