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10 Dollars
| Issuer | Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1877 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in brown and blue on cream paper, with Chinese characters reading 香港上海滙理銀行 across the top margin within a fine guilloche border. Two oval panels in the upper corners each bear the denomination £10 in bold numerals, flanking a central armorial vignette of the corporation's coat of arms. The text body carries the promise-to-pay obligation in copperplate script — 'THE HONG KONG & SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION Promises to pay the Bearer on demand at its Office here TEN DOLLARS or the equivalent Currency of this Island, value received' — with 'By Order of the Board of Directors' below, and spaces for Accountant and Manager signatures; a CANCELLED stamp is applied across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 香港上海滙理銀行 THE HONG KONG & SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION Promises to pay the Bearer on demand at its Office here TEN DOLLARS or the equivalent Currency of this Island, value received By Order of the Board of Directors Acc.t Manager HONG KONG 香港 |
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| Comments |
The Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation began issuing its own notes almost from its founding in 1865, operating under a colonial ordinance that permitted note issue — a privilege denied to most private banks elsewhere in the British Empire at the time. This 1877 example predates the bank's later contracts with more prominent security printers; Ashby & Co. handled several of the early plate commissions before the bank moved toward De La Rue for subsequent series.
Surviving examples from this issue are genuinely rare. Forty-five years of Hong Kong's humidity, two World Wars, and the Japanese occupation — during which HSBC notes were temporarily suppressed — all took their toll on early paper stock.