Thought Hong Kong deserves a bit of a mention especially if you have been keeping up with news. A small country of 7 million people and supposedly 1 million people went on protest. That deserves some attention. In short Hong Kong had major protests over a controversial extradition bill. While Hong Kong is part of China, it was a British colony. The Chinese like to say 'one country, two systems' to demonstrate that China can manage different ideologies. Clearly there are some that do not sit well with the Chinese Communist Party. I'll stop short and leave politics aside. I'll post some of my favorites Yes it's not a great photo. This was given to me by a friend who lives in Hong Kong. What's unique about this coin as well as the 20 cents coin is that it is scalloped shape. Hong Kong is also home of an exotic sauce called XO sauce, which also uses scallops. Pretty fancy. I also do like their modern 5 and 10 dollar coins. What is distinct about them is that they are quite thick. 5 dollars in particular has an interesting edge. Hong Kong modern coins are not struck yearly - demand for them have dropped as Hong Kong was the first country to issue contactless card for public transportation back in 1997, so called the octopus card. Going back in time, Hong Kong also had a 10 sided coin (decagon) Now back to the colonial era - might as well post one from each reign Queen Elizabeth II This denomination no longer circulate King George VI King George V King Edward VII Queen Victoria This is the only crown size silver coin that circulated in 1866 - 1868. Production of such coins proved to be too difficult and the Hong Kong mint was shut, sending mint machinery to Osaka, Japan. Coins ended up to be struck in Heaton. Interestingly some of the early Hong Kong silver coins (not copper) were struck in coin alignment instead of medal alignment. Finally, this coin deserves a bit of attention 1 mil coin which is worth 1/10 of 1 cent. Obviously this did not last long in circulation due to its low buying power. As of why I find this coin interesting, this coin pays tribute to the Chinese cash coin. In fact a similar design was used later in the Chinese Empire in 1908 A type set of Hong Kong coins can be seen here: https://issuu.com/gxseries/docs/hong_kong_type_album_1863_present I personally would like to visit Hong Kong one day to see what it is like - been told it is a place that one has to check it out to grasp a different world. Please feel free to post your Hong Kong coins!
I first went to Hong Kong in 1969 and have been back there many, many times. I have a nearly complete set of the large cents, plus quite a few other odds and ends. I like that old silver HK dollar, never had one of those yet. Here are a couple coins.
I've been trying to complete my Dansco Hong Kong Type album, but the 1866 dollar and 50 cent piece are not exactly doable within my current budget. Oh well, one day maybe a chopmarked piece will show up?
I had to let a few 50 cents slide out of my hands - too often they were just way too far out of reach and they have always gone up in one direction. 10 years ago the same coin was sold for less than 100USD in VF condition... It's 10 fold today (!) What would you expect when mintage figure of 1866 and 1867 50 cents is mere 59,000 (if I recall correctly) - and that's assuming if all of them survived. To be honest, I think it's a perfect time for me to sell off a couple of half finished sets - that should fix a lot of problems. The dollar coin can be pricey but doable as the mintage figures are much higher. You can see mine is heavily damaged... will let you know if I ever upgrade that coin. So far I have kept it for the last few years.
I've visited a few time -- really like the heft of the 5 dollar coin. It's so thick it will stand on it's edge.
My rule is that if you don't want to pay the premium for a problem-free coin, at least make sure the "problem" is not too distracting, or better yet, something that adds interest.
I have a 1977 .50 cent coin and a 1983 penny coin from Hong Kong. I have many others that are older and that are from all over too. They are for sale. Thing is I don’t know how much to charge for them and I don’t really know anyone that wants them. I have had all my foreign coins since 1994. I traded a kid a pencil in 5th grade for them. Lol. I love coins and I think my set is pretty cool. If ur looking for something special let me know. I may have it.
Nice and interesting coins from an interesting place, I've never been. I hope things cool off there? Anyway, I used to work with a guy from Hong Kong. I have fond memories of him, yelling at his wife in Cantonese on the phone, in my presence . Unfortunately when I think of Hong Kong. I exclusively think of him & these incidents. I also think of Jin Yang from Silicon Valley .
