World coins chat: Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) within China, a status it received in 1997 after having been a British Crown Colony following the First Opium War in 1841. Hong Kong has a population of 7.2 million and is one of the main financial centers of Asia and a hub to China.


Flag of Hong Kong

The First Opium War (1839-1841) gave the British the right to establish a trading port on Hong Kong Island. In 1860 Kowloon was added and in 1898 a 99-year lease of the New Territories was agreed. These 3 parts formed the Crown Colony and now the SAR.

Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1941 until 1945. The British resumed control afterwards, but also initiated some reforms to appease the local population. From the 1970's Hong Kong developed into a major and global financial center. In 1984, the Sino-British Joint Declaration resulted in the return of Hong Kong to China that took place in 1997. It is currently still separately administered from mainland China in a 'one country, two systems' model, although there is some disagreement on how this is actually applied. In 2014 the Umbrella Protests were aimed at the limited civil liberties but did not have any result so far.

Currency
Initially, the British Pound was used from 1841. However, Spanish Dollars were much more used throughout East Asia through the Mexico-Manila link. In 1845 it was agreed to peg the Spanish Dollar or Mexican Peso to 4 Shillings 2 Pence. In 1863 the first Hong Kong Dollars were minted at the Royal Mint. In 1866 mint was established in Hong Kong but the Chinese did not receive the new coins well. The mint machinery was sold to the Japanese which minted their first silver Yens with it.

The silver crisis of 1873 resulted in a devaluation of the Hong Kong Dollar, which was not linked to gold. From 1895 the British started minting Trade Dollars, depicting Britannia, for use in Hong Kong and Straits Settlements. These coins are still popular with collectors today. They are listed under UK but were only used in Asia.

By 1906 the paper Hong Kong Dollar had fallen to 2 Shillings 4 Pence or 60$=7£. That year the Straits Settlements Dollar was split off for use in the Straits, Malaya and North Borneo. In 1935 the Hong Dollar was devalued by almost 50% to 16$/£ or 1s3d per HK$.

During the Japanese occupation the Military Yen replaced the Hong Kong Dollar. After the Japanese defeat the Yen currency was made void and the Dollar was reintroduced at pre-war rates. Sterling devaluations caused the Hong Kong Dollar to drop from 4 per USD to 6/$ in 1949. The currency floated from 1970 to 1983 when a managed peg was reached between 7.75 and 7.85 HKD per USD, a rate still applicable in 2015.

For years there were speculators betting on a HKD revaluation if China would revaluate its Renminbi, but recent signs of financial weakness in China has fed some speculation the other way. The Hong Dollar is nevertheless still very stable and it weathered the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 seamlessly.

Coins
In 1861, holed coins of 1 Mil (1/1000 Dollar) were introduced. These coins resembled Chinese Cash coins. That same decade, more denominations upto the silver Dollar were introduced.

Following the devaluation of 1935 base metal replaced silver in the 5 and 10 Cents coins, and after the war this happened to 50 Cents coins.

In 1993 the current coin series was introduced, the first without an English monarch even though the handover would only take place in 1997. The old QE2 coins are still legal tender but are rarely seen in circulation. It is said that most payments in Hong Kong are done by card so that coins are not used so much in general anymore.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hong_kong-1.html

Citação: "jokinen"​In 1993 the current coin series was introduced, the first without an English monarch even though the handover would only take place in 1997. The old QE2 coins are still legal tender but are rarely seen in circulation. It is said that most payments in Hong Kong are done by card so that coins are not used so much in general anymore.
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​https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hong_kong-1.html

No, they are not rare. The 1 to 5 HKD coins are indeed rare, with a chance of less than 5% you will see them circulating. But as for the 10 to 50 cents, especially the 10 and 20 cents, 50% chance it will be a QE2 coin.

So generally, about

Citação: "SquareRootLolly"​No, they are not rare. The 1 to 5 HKD coins are indeed rare, with a chance of less than 5% you will see them circulating. But as for the 10 to 50 cents, especially the 10 and 20 cents, 50% chance it will be a QE2 coin.

​I would definitely not say that the old series are rare, but I wouldn't say the 10 and 20 cent coins are QE2 50% of the time either. They exist in circulation, and they pop up from time to time, but they're not rare.

The last time sizing was done on HK coins was the late 1970s, so many of the QE2 coins dated 1977 to 1992 will still appear in your change, being 10c, 20c, 50c, $1, $2 and $5. In 1993, some 4 years before handover the coins had updated designs showing flowers rather than the Queen's effigy.

Not $10 as the coin was only issued in 1994 and only issued for 2 years, with the Government $10 being much more common. Notes $20 to $1000 are from 3 major banks (Bank of China, Hong and Shanghai and Standard Chartered I think). It was fun finding different ones and different dates going back to the 1990s.

When I was there in 2014, I noticed most coins were still 1990s with 1998 being the last year, but new issue $2 and $5 coins dated 2012 and 2013 had just been released.

I disagree about cards, for small purchases, like trains, buses, corner shops - coins are king and they really prefer exact change on buses. They even dispensed $10 coins on the trains! I remember most cafes had a girl at front with a massive rack of coins usually 50 or 100 of each of the dollar(s) denominations (Except $10 and mostly $2 and $5 coins) and a few less cents (As cent coins are practically worthless and most prices were whole dollars or ended in 50c or 90c, so 10c and 50c were common. The 20c piece I found was hardly ever used.

Citação: "Moneytane"Not $10 as the coin was only issued in 1994 and only issued for 2 years,

I disagree about cards, for small purchases, like trains, buses, corner shops - coins are king and they really prefer exact change on buses. They even dispensed $10 coins on the trains! I remember most cafes had a girl at front with a massive rack of coins usually 50 or 100 of each of the dollar(s) denominations (Except $10 and mostly $2 and $5 coins) and a few less cents (As cent coins are practically worthless and most prices were whole dollars or ended in 50c or 90c, so 10c and 50c were common. The 20c piece I found was hardly ever used.

​According to KN Boon's Catalog of Hong Kong and Macao coins and banknotes, the 10 dollar coin was minted from 1993 to 1996. The ones bearing the 1993 dates are either all proofs or are in BU coin sets.

I would also disagree about cards. Although we do have cards and we have this thing called the Octopus card, which you can use to pay at many convenience stores and practically every means of transport except the taxi. I still find coins useful when you want to pay for the bus fares, which always end in some weird decimal value like 20c or 40c or 70c. They don't give change on the buses. Also, many small businesses and other shops don't support Octopus and they only accept cash. The cashiers do have racks of coins when they need to give you small change. I wouldn't say coins are rare, and you might be able to find the whole set in a few days.

Point taken, but by cards I meant Debit and Credit cards as in new Zealand, we have a thing called eftpos where you pay by card credit or debit for free when you buy anything and now all ATMs have free withdrawals for debits and only small fees for credit card cash advances.

Rest about the coins - point taken.

Does anyone know if all/which QE2-coins are still legal tender in Hong Kong?

According to Hong Kong Monetary Authority-Homepage it seems that all QE2-coins are still legal tender:

"In 1993, a new series depicting the bauhinia flower was launched to replace the Queen's portrait series (which remains legal tender)."
https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/key-functions/money/hong-kong-currency/coins/

But in Numista for example 1$ with old QE2 is described as demonetized whereas $1 with new QE2 not...?

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1583.html
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1577.html

The new style $1 was introduced in 1993, but the old style $1 was the same size from 1975 onwards.
1987 was the first year of the Maklouf effigy for Hong Kong Coins.


The 1993 set which introduced the present sizes and shapes of current Hong Kong coins, although none were issued between 1998 and 2012 and the $10 was not issued after 1996.

The coins from 1993 had no reference to Queen Elizabeth as part of the transistion.

$5 - introduced in 1980 all are legal
$2 - 1980 onwards, pre 1980 coins were larger
$1 - 1980 onwards, pre 1980 coins were larger
10, 20, 50 cents coins as above, pre 1975 coins were larger
5 cent coin - not minted after 1970s, no longer legal tender (Too worthless)

$10 coin - it was only minted 1993 to 1996, but I know in 2014 you could still use them to buy subway tickets! Not so sure now as the $10 note is the only Government one.

Citação: "Moneytane"​$10 coin - it was only minted 1993 to 1996, but I know in 2014 you could still use them to buy subway tickets! Not so sure now as the $10 note is the only Government one.

​The $10 coin and $10 note circulate simultaneously in Hong Kong today. The note is more common, but if I showed up to a 7-11 or a newspaper stall with either one they'd take it.

Here is a coin that is believed to be quite rare - 1980 10 Cents;



The 1892 H 20 Cents is a pretty scarce coin;



Aidan.

Citação: "BCNumismatics"​Here is a coin that is believed to be quite rare - 1980 10 Cents;
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​The 1892 H 20 Cents is a pretty scarce coin;
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​Aidan.

​In addition, the 1964H 5 cents and 1941 1 cent coin are both rare.

It is believed that the entire shipment of 1941 1 cent coins were lost to the Japanese due to the war, and as such, were not issued.

Not so much rare - but a very old coin, it must be one of their oldest.


1866 10 cent silver coin, almost VF, would be better if some cretin had not tried to put a hole in it!