In the beginning, it was all a mixed bag of coins.
When Hong Kong was first ceded to the British in 1841, the sleepy fishing village rapidly grew into a bustling trade port that attracted merchants from all over the world. Without a local currency, a mix of foreign currencies was used instead, among them the Indian rupee, the Spanish dollar, the British pound sterling, and Chinese cash coins.
It wasn’t until a few years later in 1845 that the first bank opened in Hong Kong. The Oriental Bank began issuing the city’s first banknote, a five-dollar bill so large it had to be folded multiple times before it could fit in people’s wallets, leading to its affectionate nickname of “Big Blanket.”
Banks such as the Bank of China, Standard Chartered, and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation would all be established afterwards in the following half-decade; today, all banknotes worth $20 or above are issued by these three major banks, while the Hong Kong government supplies all coins and notes worth $10 or under. If you’ve ever wondered why Hong Kong dollar notes come printed with different illustrations unique to each of the three major banks while coins all carry the same design, now you know.