The 1997 handover ended 156 years of British colonial administration, a transfer negotiated through the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration under Thatcher and Deng Xiaoping. The Royal Mint produced multiple commemorative variants for the occasion — this "Version B" designation distinguishes it within a collector-targeted series rather than any difference in issuing authority or legal tender status.
The .925 silver specification and 28.28g weight place it squarely in the Crown-sized commemorative tradition the Royal Mint had been issuing since the 1970s.
The 1997 handover ended 156 years of British colonial administration, a transfer negotiated through the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration under Thatcher and Deng Xiaoping. The Royal Mint produced multiple commemorative variants for the occasion — this "Version B" designation distinguishes it within a collector-targeted series rather than any difference in issuing authority or legal tender status.
The .925 silver specification and 28.28g weight place it squarely in the Crown-sized commemorative tradition the Royal Mint had been issuing since the 1970s.