...Hong Kong, Standared Chartered Bank - 2023 Reprints Of $20, $50 And $500

區政行別特港香國和共民人華中

(Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China)

 

司公限有(港香)行銀打渣

(Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (founded 1859)

Currency - Dollar (HKD)

 

Here are the three known Standard Chartered Bank's banknotes issued with the date of 01.01.2023. The three notes are the $20, $50 and $500. It is not sure if others are also printed but not issued yet. The other two issuing-banknote commercial banks, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Bank of China also released the denominations of $50 and $500 but none has released a full set for the 2023 series. However, Standard Chartered Bank did release a full set for the 2020 series from $20 to $1000.

 

The theme on the back for each note for all three banks are the same, albeit the designs are not the same.

 

Twenty Dollars

 

Signatures

Chief Financial Officer - Saleen Razvi (tenure 2021-)

Chief Executive - Huen Wai Yi Mary (tenure 2017-)

Watermark - Bauhinia flower and electrotype 20

Dimensions - 144.5mm x 72mm

 

Front - The designs on the front for all the notes are almost the same with the bank's main headquarter office in Hong Kong (Des Voeux, Central). On the top right hand corner, each note is printed with a dynamic shimmering pattern in green and when the note is tilted, a ring appearing in a lighter green colour moves around as well. The dynamic shimmering patterns on the notes are - $20 (two leaves), $50 (butterfly) and $500 (three pentagon objects). A Windowed Metallic Thread is also incorporated on the note, and when the note is tilted, the large and small rings on the metallic thread move correspondingly.

 

Back - A smiling waiter filling up a tea pot with hot water with a family of three enjoying their yum cha. Chinese lanterns as decorating objects hanging in the restaurant. The theme for this note is Tea Culture.

 

 

 

 

 

Fifty Dollars

 

Signatures

Chief Financial Officer - Saleen Razvi (tenure 2021-)

Chief Executive - Huen Wai Yi Mary (tenure 2017-)

Watermark - Bauhinia flower and electrotype 50 

Dimensions  -149mm x 74.5mm

 

Back - A Blue-Spotted Crow butterfly feeding on a flower. To the right is a caterpillar (larva), and underneath is a chrysalis (pupa). This is basically featuring a life cycle of a butterfly. Theme - Butterfly and Flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Hundred Dollars

 

Signatures

Chief Financial Officer - Saleen Razvi (tenure 2021-)

Chief Executive - Huen Wai Yi Mary (tenure 2017-)

Watermark - Bauhinia flower and electrotype 500

Dimensions - 159.5mm x 80mm

 

Back - Natural Scenery theme with the image of the Hexagonal Rock Columns situated at the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark in the eastern and northeastern New Territories. Theme - Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark.

 

...Hong Kong, Stardard Chartered Bank - 2020 Reprints Full Set of Five Notes

中華人民共和國香港特別行政區

(Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China)

 

渣打銀行(香港)有限公司

(Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited)

Currency - Dollar (HKD) 

 

Below is a full set of five banknotes all printed with the dates of 01.01.2020. These are the first reprints of the 2018 series, and based on my understanding, these are the only reprints in full set since 2018. The designs are the same as the 2018 series, but with new dates and new signatures.

Twenty Dollars

Standard Chartered Bank Head Office

Front - The designs on the front for all the notes are almost the same with the bank's main headquarter office in Hong Kong (Des Voeux, Central). On the top right hand corner, each note is printed with a dynamic shimmering pattern in green and when the note is tilted, a ring appearing in a lighter green colour moves around as well. The dynamic shimmering patterns on the notes are - $20 (two leaves), $50 (butterfly), $100 (musical instrument - ruan), $500 (three pentagon objects) and $1000 (flower). A Windowed Metallic Thread is also incorporated on the note, and when the note is tilted, the large and small rings on the metallic thread move correspondingly.

 

Out of the three commercial banks in Hong Kong, only Standard Chartered Bank has issued a full set with the same dates since 2018. Standard Chartered Bank's banknotes only represent around 10.1% of the total banknotes circulating in Hong Kong, much lower than those issued by The HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Bank of China. In view of low circulation, it is not sure if the quantity printed is the same as the two other banks. If this is the case, one would assume that collector values on the Standard Chartered Bank notes would appreciate much faster than the HongKong and Shanghai Bank and the Bank of China. So far, I do not see this happening. Perhaps, they are just the same among of SCB's banknotes in dealers/collectors' hands as those of HSBC and BoC too.

The theme on the back of each note for all three banks are the same, albeit the designs are not the same.

 

 Back - A smiling waiter filling up a tea pot with hot water with a family of three enjoying the yum cha. Chinese lanterns as decorating objects hanging in the restaurant.

 

Signatures

Chief Financial Officer - Hau Tee Mann (since April 2017)

Chief Executive - Huen Wai Yi Mary (since March 2017)

Watermark - Bauhinia flower and electrotype 20

Dimensions - 144.5mm x 72mm 

 

Family having yum cha

  

Fifty Dollars 

Standard Chartered Bank Head Office

 

Back - A butterfly feeding on a flower. To the right is a caterpillar (larva), and underneath is a chrysalis (pupa). This is basically featuring a life cycle of a butterfly. The only thing that is missing, I believe, is the egg.

Watermark - Bauhinia flower and electrotype 50 

Dimensions - 149.5mm x 74.5mm

 

Butterfly

 

One Hundred Dollars

Standard Chartered Bank Head Office

Back - a couple performing Cantonese Opera and in the background is the image of the Xiqu Centre building.

Watermark - Bauhinia flower and electrotype 100

Dimensions - 154mm x 77mm

Cantonese Opera actors

Five Hundred Dollars

Standard Chartered Bank Head Office

Back - Image of the Hexagonal Rock Formation situated in Sai Kung, which is an UNESCO Global Geopark since 2009.

Watermark - Bauhinia flower and electrotype 500

Dimensions - 159mm x 79.5mm

 

Hexagonal Rock Formation

 

One Thousand Dollars

Standard Chartered Bank Head Office

Back - Hong Kong skyline designed mainly with binary numbers - 0's and 1's. The image is showing the financial center which is situated on Hong Kong Island. A ferry is crossing the Victoria Harbour. 

Watermark - Bauhinia flower and electrotype 1000

Dimensions - 164.5mm x 82.5mm

 

Hong Kong skyline in binary numbers

 

...Hong Kong, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited - 2016 Prints Set Of Four Notes

 中華人民共和國香港特別行政區

(Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China)

 

渣打銀行(香港)有限公司

(Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited)

Currency - Dollar (HKD)

 

This is the last issue for the Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) series of 2010. Since the series was first introduced in 2010, reprints were issued in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016. Unlike those previously released, the denomination of 500 dollars was not printed for these 2016 reprints.

 

There are no changes to the designs for these 2016 reprints. 

 

Unlike those issued by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Bank of China, the designs on this series on the front for the Standard Chartered Bank are not all the same. Each note depicts a different mythical animal on the left side of the note. Chinese mythical animals are important as for centuries, they have formed part of Chinese culture and religion. The most powerful animal, in my opinion, is the dragon as it is believed that it has the power to control the wind and the rain and is superior to all the other animals. In the old China before becoming a republic, only the emperor was allowed to have the dragon embossed on his cloth. Any other person caught having the dragon on their cloth will never live to see another day.

 

The mythical animal designs have been appearing on the banknotes of SCB since the 1979 series. Each of these mythical animals has a special meaning in Chinese culture. Since I am not an expert in this field, I will not comment further here in case I got it wrong.

The themes on the back are Heritage and Technology. The designs on each note depicts an historical Chinese invention and then matches with a modern technology equivalent, like the abacus and the binary code. To many people, the abacus is referred to as the world's first computer (calculator).

According to the latest report, banknotes issued by the SCB have the lowest circulation rates in Hong Kong. Out of the three issuing commercial banks, SCB has the circulation rate of 10.4%, followed by Bank of China (31.7%) and Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (57.9%). By the look of it, there should be less SCB's banknotes in the market and I wonder, in terms of collectible's value, if they are a better future investment than those issued by the other two banks. Right now, they all seem to be selling at the same price as others for the similar year issued. 

 

Chief Financial Officer - Jamie Ling Fou Tsong (tenure 2013-2017)

Chief Executive Officer - May Tan Siew-Boi (tenure 2014-2017).

These are the only four notes issued bearing the signature of its Chief Executive May Tan Siew Boi.

 

Dimensions

$20 - 144.5mm x 72mm;

$50 - 149.5mm x 74mm;

$100 - 154mm x 76.5mm; and

$1000 - 164mm x 82mm.

 

Twenty Dollars

Dated 2016, mythical fish (carp)

Reverse - five rods Chinese abacus (Syun Pun/Suan Pan) and binary code

 

$20 - mythical fish (carp) / five rods Chinese abacus (Suan Pan) and binary code. The words Suan Pan literally means counting tray. Suan Pan comes in all sizes and the most common ones have 13 rods. Would you call this 5 rods Suan Pan a pocket size calculator? Suan Pan can be traced back to 770-476BC;

 

 Fifty Dollars

Dated 2016, mythical tortoise

Reverse - Chinese combination lock and vault

 

$50 - mythical tortoise / Chinese combination lock and vault. I am not sure when the Chinese combination lock was first invented but it is a lock that is more unique to those made with rotating numbered dice. For a start, if you do not read Chinese then it is quite hard to crack the combination as the positions on these dice have to be in a precise position before the lock can open. Even you know the combination, sometimes you have to jiggle it into position before the lock can be opened;

 

One Hundred Dollars

Dated 2016, mythical horse

Reverse - Sung (dynasty) script seal and printed circuit

 

$100 - mythical horse / Sung script seal and printed circuit. The Sung dynasty came to power in 960 and ended in 1279. The Sung dynasty was also the first to introduce paper money nationally in China. A Chinese seal is just like a signature. They were used on official or important documents, including modern banknotes issued in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and even in Singapore too. The seal is usually comes in a square shape;

 

Five Hundred Dollars - None issued with the year date of 2016, or so far none has been sighted.

 

One Thousand Dollars

Dated 2016, Chinese Emperor dragon

Reverse - Tang Dynasty coin and smart chip

$1000 - Chinese dragon / Tang Dynasty coin and smart chip. The Chinese cash coin was first introduced in the fourth century even before the Tang dynasty came to power (618-907AD). It is believed that the square hole in the middle of the coin was purposely made so that one can carry multiple coins by putting a string through the holes for ease of handling. The Chinese dragon is an emperor's dragon as it has five claws instead of the normal four. Only the Chinese Emperor is allowed to have this design and not others. The dragon is the most powerful mythical animal and that is why it is printed on the largest denomination of banknote.

 

.Footnote👀

I am not an expert in Chinese mythical animals nor do I know much about Chinese history. If you are confused with what I have written above, don't worry as I am just confused myself too 🤣.

...Hong Kong, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited - 2018 Series Full Set $20 to $1000

中華人民共和國香港特別行政區
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)

渣打銀行(香港)有限公司
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited* (SCB)

Currency : Dollar (HKD)

In July 2018, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the three note-issuing banks in Hong Kong announced the new series of banknotes. This is the latest series of Standard Chartered Bank's banknotes, with the first note, $1000 issued on 12.12.2018. This series consists of 5 notes. The notes were released in stages between 2018 and 2020. Despite this series being released in 3 stages, all notes are dated 1 January 2018. Standard Chartered Bank has been issuing banknotes since the 1860s (then under the name of The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China).

The general themes of this series are; -

Front : SCB Head Office building;
Back : The city’s rich natural and cultural heritage;
$20 – Dim sum and tea culture (yum cha);
$50 – Hong Kong butterflies;
$100 – Cantonese opera;
$500 – Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark;
$1000 – International financial center.

This is the first time in the history of Hong Kong banknotes that the themes on the reverse side of the three note-issuing banks' notes are the same for each denomination, albeit different designs. Unlike the previous series, there are no description texts printed on the back of the notes.

The designs on the front are almost all the same (except for the Dynamic Shimmering Pattern and underprint) and on the back, they are printed with the following images;-
$20 - waiter serving tea to diners (yum cha) (143mm x 71.5mm);
$50 - butterfly (148mm x 74mm);
$100 - Cantonese opera (man and woman performing) (153mm x 76.5mm);
$500 - hexagonal rock formation (158mm x 79mm);
$1000 - Hong Kong skyline (financial center) illustrated by binary numbers - 1 & 0 (163mm x 81.5).

It has been reported that the notes are manufactured with a thin transparent protective layer on it which will prolong the lifespan of the note by up to two more years. It is believed that banknotes issued by Standard Chartered Bank represent approximately 15%+ of the total banknotes issued in Hong Kong.

In a change from the traditional horizontal design, the reverse side of the new banknotes is vertically orientated.

Of the three banks in Hong Kong, only the Standard Chartered Bank's notes are signed by two bank executives. I believe the signatures on these notes belong to: -

Ms Mary Huen Wai Yee - Chief Executive Officer
Mr Hau Yee Mann - Chief Financial Officer

Twenty Dollars

Dated 2018, Standard Chartered Bank Building, tea leaves (Dynamic Shimmering Pattern)

Reverse - waiter serving tea to diners (yum cha)

 

Fifty Dollars

Dated 2018, Standard Chartered Bank Building, butterfly (Dynamic Shimmering Pattern)

Reverse - Blue-Spotted Crow butterfly, larva, pupa

 

One Hundred Dollars

Dated 2018, Standard Chartered Bank Building,Yueqin (musical instrument - Dynamic Shimmering Pattern)

Reverse - Cantonese opera performing at the Xiqu Centre at Tsim Sha Tsui

 

Five Hundred Dollars

Dated 2018, Standard Chartered Bank Building, rock columns (Dynamic Shimmering Pattern)

Reverse - hexagonal rock formation

 

One Thousand Dollars

Dated 2018, Standard Chartered Bank Building, Bauhinia flower (Dynamic Shimmering Pattern)

Reverse - Hong Kong financial center illustrated by binary numbers - 1 & 0, Star ferry

 

Together with the two other banks (The HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited) that issue banknotes in Hong Kong, the new HK$1,000 banknotes was issued on 12.12.2018 while the HK$500 entered into circulation on 23.01.2019. The HK$100 was released on 03.09.2019 and the remaining two notes, HK$50 and HK$20 banknotes were made available on 13.01.2020. The existing series of banknotes remains legal tender in Hong Kong and continues to circulate along with the new series.

These notes were printed by Hong Kong Note Printing Limited (HKNPL - 香港印鈔有限公司). The printing plant is located in Tai Po Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Government in 1996 bought the printing plant from De La Rue Group (UK). Since then, the Hong Kong Government holds 55% of the shares in this company. The remaining 45% are owned by China Banknotes Printing and Minting Corporation (15%) and 10% each for the three note-issuing banks in Hong Kong.

Note * - since 1 July 2004

*