The bank notes and coins are in the following denominations: Bank notes: 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Patacas. Coins: 1, 2, 5 and 10 Patacas; 10, 20 and 50 avos.At the time of the first issuance, the denomination only came with 1 Pataca, 5 Patacas, 10 Patacas, 25 Patacas, 50 Patacas, and 100 Patacas, with the 20 Cents coin from Canton Province. Later, Macau began issuing 5 Avos, 10 Avos, and 50 Avos in February 1920. Not until 1942, Macau issued smaller denomination like 1 Avo, 5 Avos, and 20 Avos.The new note comes with yellow color in underprint, a traditional Chinese dragon on obverse, Macau city view on reverse, and Chinese junk watermark. The date printed was Augest 8th 1988. Because 8 in Chinese (Ba) is similar to "wealth" (Fa), this unique date which occurs only once per century carries a special meaning to the note. Another feature is the replacement of Portuguese Coat of Arm with BNU's logo, symbolizing the fact that Mauca is part of China.

Pataca is legal tender in Macau for nearly a century. The Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) is the banknote issuing authority by 1905. The pataca banknotes were circulated in Macau on January 27, 1906. The name "pataca" was originally used for the popular silver coin in Asia, the Mexican eight Reales, known in Portuguese as the Pataca Mexicana. The Pataca coins were first issued in 1952. However, due to the small market demand in Macau, the second issue had postponed to 1967. The coins were bronze 5 and 10 avos, cupro-nickel 50 avos and silver 1 and 5 patacas.

In 1980, the IEM has the exclusive right to issue patacas, transferred by the Macau Government. The BNU became the agent bank of the IEM and continued to issue banknotes. On the agreement with BNU on October 16, 1995, the Bank of China (Macau Branch) became the second note-issuing bank. The authority to issue patacas was transferred to the Portuguese-administered Government with the establishment of the AMCM. After December 20, 1999. The AMCM vested with the Government of Macau Special Administrative Region for patacas issuing.

Pataca is circulated in Macau, but Hong Kong dollars (HK$) are also accepted in Macau. The Pataca, with a mere 29.9% share of Macau’s money supply at end-1998, could conveniently be replaced by the HKD, which accounted for 52.8%. The exchange rate is loosely pegged and is approximately MOP$103=HK$100 as of February 2004, although the variation is up to 10%. For United States dollars, which are in turn loosely tied to the Hong Kong dollar, the exchange rate is around 8 Patacas to 1 US dollar.