1000 Dollars HSBC

HSBC has issued Hong Kong dollar notes continuously since 1865, making it one of the few commercial banks anywhere that has retained currency-issuing rights into the twenty-first century — a function delegated under Hong Kong's unusual three-bank note-issuing arrangement alongside Standard Chartered and the Bank of China. The HK$1000 sits at the top of that circulation hierarchy and moves primarily through business and property transactions rather than everyday retail use.

Cotton substrate and basic security features at this denomination raised eyebrows among currency specialists when the series launched — the HKMA had been pushing issuing banks toward more sophisticated polymer and holographic specifications that peers in the region had already adopted.