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500 Dollars
| Issuer | Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by the large issuer title "HONGKONG & SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION" in bold letterpress across the upper centre, flanked by two oval vignettes — a rural landscape scene to the left and a harbour or coastal scene to the right — set against a brown and green guilloche underprint. The bank's armorial crest appears centrally between the two serial number panels, above the promise-to-pay legend and the denomination "FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS" in intaglio. The note is dated 1st January 1921, bears two matching serial numbers in the upper register, and carries manuscript signatures of the authorised bank directors at the lower centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE HONGKONG & SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION 香港上海滙豐銀行 Promises to pay the Bearer on demand at its Office here FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS or the equivalent in the currency of the Colony value received HONGKONG, 1st January, 1921 By Order of the Board of Directors FIVE HUNDRED 五百圓 港 五百 |
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| Comments |
Waterlow & Sons held the HSBC printing contract for several decades, and by 1921 the relationship was well established — though it would eventually end in acrimony when Waterlow became embroiled in the Portuguese escudo forgery scandal of 1925, one of the largest banknote fraud cases in history. HSBC shifted printers not long after. A $500 denomination in the early 1920s represented a very substantial sum in Hong Kong commerce, placing this note firmly in the realm of inter-bank settlement and large merchant transactions rather than retail use.
Surviving examples from this issue are rare. The combination of high face value and the financial upheaval of the interwar years meant few circulated widely and fewer still were preserved.