10 Dollars - Special Administration Region

The 1997 handover from British colonial rule to Chinese sovereignty under the "one country, two systems" framework prompted the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to issue a new coinage series for the newly established Special Administrative Region. This ten-dollar piece was part of that transitional rethink, replacing the earlier Elizabeth II series that had circulated since the 1950s. The HKMA had been established only four years prior, in 1993, taking over monetary functions from the colonial-era Exchange Fund.

Bimetallic coinage of this format was relatively new to Hong Kong at the time, the technology having gained wider adoption globally through the 1980s Italian 500 lire.