The signing of the Joint Declaration in 1984 marked the confirmation of Hong Kong’s return to China. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority was then established in 1993, and a series of new coins was introduced. The bust of Queen Elizabeth II was replaced by the image of a bauhinia, Hong Kong’s floral emblem, and the government began issuing ten-dollar coins in 1994; colonial features had started disappearing from banknote designs in the 1980s. The Bank of China exercised its right to issue Hong Kong banknotes for the first time in 1994, bringing the total number of note-issuing banks in Hong Kong to three again. For a time, as ten-dollar banknotes were replaced by the newly issued coins, the number of paper money denominations was reduced to five, ranging from twenty to one thousand dollars. However, as the demand for ten-dollar notes remained high during the Chinese New Year, the denomination was brought back in the form of government-issued notes in 2002; they have been printed on polymer since 2007.

Hong Kong’s Coinage Today

Ahead of Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, the Hong Kong government launched a new set of coins in seven denominations from ten cents to ten dollars in 1993. The crowned bust of Queen Elizabeth II was replaced by the image of a bauhinia flower. To prevent confusion during the initial introduction of these new coins, they were minted in the same weight, size and volume as the Queen Elizabeth coins in circulation at that time. In 1997, the government issued a set of bauhinia coins featuring special patterns to commemorate the handover. A surge in collector interest in coins bearing the crowned bust of Queen Elizabeth II sparked a coin shortage, and the government responded by issuing a total of 0.8 billion new coins in 1998.

Hong Kong’s Paper Money Today

The Bank of China issued its first note in 1994, breaking the long monopoly on this right enjoyed by foreign banks and increasing the number of note-issuing banks in Hong Kong to three again. In 1996, the Hong Kong government acquired the De La Rue Company’s note-printing facility, renaming it Hong Kong Note Printing Limited, to undertake the printing of all of Hong Kong’s notes in circulation. After Hong Kong’s return to China, the three note-issuing banks issued new series of banknotes in 2003 and 2010 respectively, and the Hong Kong government also began printing its ten-dollar notes. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority works closely with Hong Kong Note Printing Limited to ensure that the banknotes of each denomination are of a uniform size and colour tone and incorporate the same anti-counterfeiting features.