500 Dollars

The Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation retained the right to issue its own banknotes in Hong Kong under the colony's note-issuing system, a privilege that continues to the present day. At the turn of the century, $500 was an enormous denomination — equivalent to several months' wages for most residents — meaning these notes circulated almost exclusively between merchants and banking houses rather than in everyday trade.

Survival rate for this series is extremely low. High-value notes of this period were typically presented for redemption quickly, and any that weren't were vulnerable to the humidity that destroys cotton paper in subtropical storage conditions.