1000 Dollars HSBC

HSBC's highest denomination in this series was printed by De La Rue during a period when Hong Kong's currency arrangements were under increasing scrutiny ahead of the 1997 handover question. The note circulated during a period of intense capital sensitivity — large-denomination notes saw unusually high turnover as residents moved money in and out of the territory throughout the late 1980s and into the 1990s.

P#199 is notably scarce in heavily circulated grades for precisely that reason: high-value notes tended to move through banking channels rather than retail hands, and were often repatriated and destroyed rather than held by the public.