Hong Kong's gold $1000 series launched in 1975 to coincide with the lunar calendar cycle, with each annual issue tied to the corresponding zodiac animal. The 1978 Horse issue was struck by the Royal Mint on behalf of the colonial government — a relationship that would continue until the series concluded ahead of the 1997 handover. Mintage was deliberately constrained each year to sustain collector demand, and the series found its primary market not in Hong Kong itself but among overseas Chinese communities and international bullion investors.
Hong Kong's gold $1000 series launched in 1975 to coincide with the lunar calendar cycle, with each annual issue tied to the corresponding zodiac animal. The 1978 Horse issue was struck by the Royal Mint on behalf of the colonial government — a relationship that would continue until the series concluded ahead of the 1997 handover. Mintage was deliberately constrained each year to sustain collector demand, and the series found its primary market not in Hong Kong itself but among overseas Chinese communities and international bullion investors.