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Hong Kong


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Hong Kong is probably one of the easier and least expensive of the colonies to collect type coins from. Despite a dramatic rise in value of Chinese Imperial and Republican coinage (especially silver dollars), Hong Kong coinage of the same eras (1860s-1930s) is still readily available - even a modest budget of $10 / month can allow a good portion of a type set to be completed in nice circulated grades.

 

Part of the reason why HK coinage was struck in larger numbers than would otherwise be expected for what was just an small city-island is that its coinage also circulated in Kwangtung (Guangdong) province next door, and the seignorage (HK subsidiary coinage was .800 fine) offered the British crown a good profit as well.

 

The popularity (and profitability) of the one-cent coin was a significant reason for the Kwangtung Mint to be the first Chinese mint to start issuing milled 10-cash coins, of which the first issue was denominated as "one cent", a denomination which technically didn't exist in China!

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Nice cents and an interesting writeup. The type set cents are very attractive coins. Can you give us a translation of the Chinese characters on the reverse?

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Reading top-bottom-right-left, the Chinese characters: Hong Kong One Cent

 

On other random trivia - the Hong Kong mint only operated for several years in the mid 1860s, after which it was dismantled and sold to Japan where it served as the basis for Japan's first milled coinage. Hong Kong's coins from the 1870s onwards were struck at either London or Heaton. After the changeover in gov't in 1997, the Royal Canadian Mint has been producing the circulation coinage.

 

To expand on the 1-cent: During 1941 an emergency issue of 1-cent notes was issued to tide over the shortage in the coin. Post-WWII, the 1-cent note continued to be issued, though its use primarily was restricted to situations which required exact payment (e.g. taxes, utility bills) as virtually all other transactions were rounded to the nearest 5 cents (a denomination which itself fell out of use in the 1970s)

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  • 1 month later...

Nice coins and a couple of interesting bits of information. Can't hold and not jump in with my own coins :). Here is an earlier 1866 cent issue in dark brown extra fine.

 

1001083.jpg

 

And by the way technically speaking Krause differentiates between 3 different sub-types of the crown jewelry on the Victoria cent, this is the first type with the 14 pearls in the left arch of the crown.

 

And a friend of mine has a 1941 cent....

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  • 8 months later...

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