An elegant design from a turbulant time

British Hong Kong

Prior to the mid-19th century, the area currently known as Hong Kong was part of the Chinese Qing dynasty Depending on the history you read, the 1840-42 war between Britain and China was either over Britain smuggling opium into Chinese ports, or Chinese military threats to defenceless British civilians. Whatever the trigger, the end result was that Hong Kong became a British colony.

Following further wars and disputes, and with Britain concerned how it would maintain security of their free port in British Hong Kong, negotiations came up with a solution. To end the war, China would “lease” Hong Kong to Britain for 99 years. This deal came into effect on 9th June, 1898. In 1997, the lease came to an end. Agreements had been reached, ensuring that Hong Kong remained a “Semi-autonomous region“. While this has been used in the news to describe Chinese semi-autohomous regions, according to this list of quora, as of 2020 / 2021, there were actually 40 countries with over 120 regions covered.

There are collectors who specialise in collecting “one from every country“. Since this coin was issued while Hong Kong was a British colony but before the lease agreement, I wondered whether that counted as a separate “country” for that purpose. Checking the Every Country email list however, notes Hong Kong as the British colony, the transition period (during the early 1990s while still a British colony, but having removed Queen Elizabeth II from the coins in preparation for the handover) – and the Chinese semi-autonomouse region period from 1997.

Obverse

The obverse features the standard William Wyon “Gothic” portrait of Queen Victoria, which is one of my favourites. The dress is very detailed and the looping plait under her ear make it quite a striking effigy.

The text “Victoria Queen” is simpler than British coins of the time which used “VICTORIA D:G: BRITT:REG:F:D:”, which translates to “Victoria by the Grace of God Queen of the Britains Defender of the Faith”. But the ornate crown and dress also confirm the status of the Queen.

Reverse

I find the reverse of Hong Kong coins fascinating. Around the edge is the country name, value and year in English. In the centre, however are four Chinese symbols, reminiscent of the Cash Coins which would have been in use previously. The text on these states the value, and the country name. This style of reverse was used on most Hong Kong coins up until the last Elizabeth II issued coins in 1991.

Since 1993, coins have featured the Bauhinia or Hong Kong orchid flower (Binomial Name: Bauhinia blakeana) on the obverse, with the value and year on the reverse.