Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Dollar - Victoria Trial Strike
| Issuer | Hong Kong |
|---|---|
| Year | 1863 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Silver (.900) |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Youthful uncrowned effigy of Queen Victoria facing left, with hair drawn back and elaborately coiled at the nape, engraved in high relief. The portrait is set within a wide decorative border of interlocking Greek-key fret ornament, dividing the legend into two arcs. The legend VICTORIA appears above and QUEEN below, both rendered in raised Latin capitals within the fret border. The overall design reflects the refined engraving style of Leonard Charles Wyon, characteristic of mid-Victorian colonial pattern coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
In 1863, the Hong Kong government was actively lobbying London for permission to issue a local trade dollar to compete with the Mexican peso then dominating commerce across southern China and the Straits Settlements. These trial strikes — produced at the Royal Mint — were part of that official proposal, submitted to the Treasury for approval. The request was ultimately denied; Britain judged a Hong Kong dollar unnecessary given the forthcoming British Trade Dollar project, which itself would not materialize until 1895.
Two pattern varieties are recorded under the Pn81/Pn82 and Pr198/Pr199 references, distinguished by die differences rather than composition changes.