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One Dollar Note
Date: 1935 AD
Materials: Paper
Origin: Hong Kong
Height: 131 mm
Width: 194 mm
Accession No:
CM 1984-6-5-696
© Copyright the Trustees of The British Museum.
This is Hong Kong's last banknote based on the silver dollar, which was abandoned on 9 November 1935.
Silver dollar notes were first issued in China in the 1890s and were a great success. However, in 1935 the British territory of Hong Kong on the south coast of China maintained the close link of its currency to the Chinese system, and joined China in abandoning the silver standard. The Chinese and Hong Kong currencies would no longer be valued according to fixed amounts of silver.
This change was accompanied by the transfer of responsibility for issuing dollar notes from the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to the Hong Kong Government. Changed wording on the notes reflected the end of the silver standard.
© Copyright the Trustees of The British Museum.