New Hong Kong banknotes unveiled

The new banknotes from HSBC

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) unveiled yesterday (July 24) the new 2018 series of Hong Kong banknotes.

The HKMA said the new series will come in five denominations—$1,000, $500, $100, $50, and $20—and will be put into circulation in batches starting in the last quarter of the year.

They will be issued by Hong Kong’s three note-issuing banks (NIBs)—Standard Chartered, Bank of China, and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).

“Consistent with the current series, the new series will consist of five denominations, each adopting the same colour scheme.  It is the first time that the thematic subjects on the reverse side of the NIBs’ new series banknotes are standardised for each denomination to facilitate easy recognition by the public,” the HKMA said in a statement.

The five denominations depict Hong Kong’s position as international financial centre (HK$1,000), the spectacular Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark (HK$500), Cantonese opera to highlight the city’s art and cultural legacy (HK$100), butterflies that inhabit Hong Kong (HK$50), and the popular dim sum and tea culture (HK$20).

“The selected thematic subjects represent different aspects of Hong Kong as an international metropolis, featuring its rhythm of life, recreation and entertainment, as well as its rich natural and cultural heritage,” the HKMA said.

“For aesthetic presentation of the subject and easy distinction from previous series, the reverse side of the banknote is in vertical orientation instead of the traditional horizontal layout,” it added.

The HKMA said the HK$1,000 and HK$500 notes will be put into circulation in the last quarter of 2018 and early 2019 respectively, and the lower denominations of HK$100, HK$50 and HK$20 will be ready for issue in batches between 2019 and 2020.

The new banknotes have incorporated advanced security features— a dynamic shimmering pattern, windowed metallic thread, enhanced watermark, fluorescent see-through denomination, concealed denomination, and embossed feel.

Braille and tactile lines will continue to be available in the new series for people with visual impairments.

HKMA has also sponsored the Hong Kong Society for the Blind to develop a mobile application that uses a phone’s camera to identify the denomination of Hong Kong banknotes and read it out for the user, but the application is not designed to distinguish counterfeits from genuine banknotes.

“Similar to other places, we will at appropriate intervals introduce a new series of banknotes for the purpose of adopting the latest banknote printing technology, thus making it difficult for counterfeiters to imitate or replicate our banknotes,” said HKMA Chief Executive Norman Chan.

“On top of carrying state-of-the-art security features, the unified thematic subject presented in a vertical layout for each denomination of the banknotes across the three NIBs makes the new series distinctive from the previous one and a good representation of the local culture of Hong Kong,” he added.