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5 Dollars HSBC
| Issuer | Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940-1941 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1863-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | At centre, the arms of Hong Kong set within radiating rays form the principal vignette, flanked to the left by a blank watermark panel and to the right by a seated allegorical female figure beside the sea. The face carries extensive bilingual text in English and Chinese, with serial numbers, denomination numerals, and authorising signatures printed by letterpress. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
This series was printed in Britain and shipped to Hong Kong, which created an immediate logistical problem when Japan invaded in December 1941. Notes already in circulation were swept up in the occupation; those still in transit or held in reserve were either destroyed or impounded. Bradbury Wilkinson had supplied HSBC with banknote production for decades, and the relationship continued through the war years via issues intended for territories not yet under Japanese control.
P#173C is one of the last HSBC issues before the colony's fall, and unissued survivors with intact watermarks are notably less common than their circulated counterparts — the opposite of the usual pattern.