500 Dollars HSBC

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was one of three note-issuing banks in Hong Kong during this period, a status rooted in the colonial banking framework that predated the establishment of any central bank in the territory. HSBC's right to issue currency was — and remains — a commercial privilege, not a sovereign one, requiring the bank to hold US dollar reserves backing every note issued.

Thomas De La Rue printed this series through the handover run-up, making the 1992 cut-off date significant: production timelines were already being renegotiated with an eye toward 1997.