100 Dollars Standard Chartered Bank

Standard Chartered's Hong Kong dollar notes occupy an odd position in modern currency — issued by a private commercial bank under the oversight of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, with the issuing bank itself liable for the notes in circulation. That arrangement, rooted in Hong Kong's colonial-era three-bank issuing system, has survived every handover negotiation intact. Standard Chartered holds the smallest share of Hong Kong's private banknote circulation, well behind HSBC and the Bank of China.

Giesecke+Devrient have printed for Standard Chartered's Hong Kong series for decades. For a note of this value, a watermark-only security specification is notably lean by contemporary standards.