1 Mil - Victoria

Hong Kong's mil denominations were established under the 1863 coinage ordinance, which created a local bronze series to address the chronic shortage of small change circulating in the colony — a problem previously papered over by a chaotic mix of Chinese cash coins, Indian pice, and clipped foreign coppers. The Royal Mint struck these at its Tower Hill facility before the Hong Kong Mint opened on Leighton Hill in 1866, a facility that proved spectacularly short-lived, closing just two years later after failing to turn a profit.

The 1866 date places this piece at the very moment of that transition.