...Hong Kong, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited - 2016 Prints Full Set

 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)

 

香港上海滙豐銀行有限公司

(The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited)

Currency - Dollar (HKD)

This is the last issue (reprints) of the 2010 series and these notes are all printed with the date of 01.01.2016. Since 2010, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) issued (and then reprinted) banknotes with the dates of 2010 (first issue), 2012, 2013, 2014 and this 2016 set. Unlike the Bank of China, HSBC (and Standard Chartered Bank) did not release any normal circulating banknotes in 2015. However, HSBC did issue a special commemorative note of $150 celebrating the bank's 150th Anniversary in 2015. This 2010 series has now been replaced by the new series issued in 2018.

There are no changes to the designs of these notes except the new date of 01.01.2016. The signature printed on these notes is the same as per those issued since 2010.

On the front of all the notes, the designs depict a lion statue, nicknamed 'Stitt', facing right. Gorden Holmes Stitt was the manager of the HSBC office in Shanghai in the 1920s. Behind Stitt is the HSBC Main Building which is the headquarters building of the bank. The location of this building is situated at 1 Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong. The construction for this building started in 1983 and completed in 1985. The building is 44-story tall and measured almost 179m in height. The firm that designed this building was Foster and Partners and the company that built this building was John Lok and Wimpey (a Joint Venture). If you look carefully, you will find two 'cannon' cranes mounted on top of the building, both pointing the same direction, presumably at the Bank of China Tower. You can see them on the note facing the left side. It is believed that this is to encounter any negative feng shui energy that may be directed to them from the Bank of China Tower. It is also believed that these two 'cannon' cranes were installed shortly after the completion of the Bank of China Tower in 1990. I believe the distance between these two buildings is about 5 minutes walk. What a hostile business environment where you have to deploy 'cannons' to protect yourselves? I wonder if the Bank of China has deployed any instrument to counter these two cannons? Perhaps they too should place a huge bagua redirecting all the negative energy back to them 🤣. However, one can understand why HSBC did that as the Bank of China Tower is also nicknamed 'One Knife" (一把刀) and the shape edge of the 'knife' might be pointing at their direction.

The designs on the back for this series are not all the same. The theme for this series, in my opinion, is festivity celebrations as each note depicts a festival celebrated in Hong Kong;-

In my opinion, apart from the designs on the front which are quite predictable, the designs on the back are very nice. As it features the Chinese cultural heritage and celebrations, it is also educational to the outside world, despite these banknotes being only meant for circulation in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, banknotes issued by the HSBC accounted for more than 50% of all banknotes in circulation. The three other entities that issue banknotes are the Bank of China, Standard Chartered Bank and the Government of Hong Kong (SAR).

Signature : Peter Wong Tung-Shun 王冬勝 (Chief Executive). Peter Wong has been with HSBC since 2005 and obviously his signature has been appearing on HSBC's banknotes since then.

 

Dimensions

$20 - 144mm x 72mm;

$50 - 149mm x 74mm;

$100 - 153mm x 77mm;

$500 - 158mm x 79mm; and

$1000 - 164mm x 82mm.

 

Twenty Dollars

Dated 2016, lion statue 'Stitt' facing right, HSBC Main Building

Reverse - Mid-Autumn Festival or Mooncake Festival, children with lanterns

Mid-Autumn Festival. This festival is also known as the Mooncake Festival. This day is celebrated on the 15th day of August on the Chinese calendar and it is also where the moon is at its brightest and fullest during this time. During this Mid-Autumn festival, children will light up their lanterns and walk around the streets at night showcasing their beautiful lanterns as depicted on the note. Lanterns come in all shapes and sizes and the most common designs are the Cube shape, Oval shape, Rooster, Fish, Star Fruit and others.

Fifty Dollars

Dated 2016, lion statue 'Stitt' facing right, HSBC Main Building

Reverse - Spring Lantern Festival (15th day of the Chinese New Year)

Spring Lantern Festival. This day falls on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year, which is also the last day of the new year celebration. Streets will be lit up with lanterns at night and children will carry their own lanterns roaming around their neighbourhood. I believe the lanterns depicted on the back of this note are specially made as when a candle is lit up, the inner circular design of the lantern rotates around thus creating moving images in motion. This type of lantern is also sometimes called the trotting horses lantern or 'running horses' lantern. I wonder if these kinds of lanterns are still made in Hong Kong or in China. 

 

One Hundred Dollars

Dated 2016, lion statue 'Stitt' facing right, HSBC Main Building

Reverse - Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day First of July, band march past celebration

HKSAR Establishment Day (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region). This was the day in 1997 (midnight of 30.06.1997) when the British officially handed back the colony of Hong Kong back to the Chinese Government in Beijing. This day has been celebrated on the first of July since 1997. The Qing government was forced to hand over Hong Kong island to the British after the end of the First Opium War in 1842 through the treaty of Nanjing, the first of the many unequal treaties that China was forced to sign. Apart from losing Hong Kong island, the British also forced China to open up five other ports so that they can continue to sell their opium to the Chinese. These ports were Shanghai, Canton (Guangzhou), Ningpo (Ningbo), Fuchow (Fuzhou) and Amoy (Xiamen). In 1860, following the defeat of the Qing government in the Second Opium War, the British took Kowloon and also New Territories with a 99 year lease. Other western powers also benefited from this second opium war were France, the United States and Russia. The New Territories lease ended in 1997 and on 01.07.1997, the entire Hong Kong colony was returned to Beijing. The design on the note shows the marching band with both the flags of Hong Kong and China flying side by side.

 

Five Hundred Dollars

Dated 2016, lion statue 'Stitt' facing right, HSBC Main Building

Reverse - Lunar New Year or more famously known as Chinese New Year, men performing traditional lion dance

Lunar New Year or more famously known as Chinese New Year. This day usually falls in late January to mid February on the Gregorian calendar. The Chinese New Year celebration lasted for 15 days. This is also the most important celebration on the Chinese calendar as millions of Chinese would rush home the night before celebrating and enjoy their annual reunion dinner with their family and loved ones. In the case for those in Hong Kong, all they have to do is to take a bus, a subway, or drive or even walk home to have the meals. During the new year celebrations, lion dances will be performed from streets to streets and at business premises to welcome the new year and good fortune as well. Usually firecrackers is also set off to scare away any evil spirits. Unfortunately, setting off firecrackers are now prohibited by many city authorities unless you have the proper permits to do so. This note depicts two lions performing the dance and a man vigorously beating the drum. Normally a big head Buddha would join in the dance too but this is not included in this design.

 

One Thousand Dollars

Dated 2016, lion statue 'Stitt' facing right, HSBC Main Building

Reverse - Dragon Boat Festival, two dragon boats racing against each other.

Dragon Boat Festival. The note depicts two dragon boats racing against each other. The Dragon Boat festival is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month on the Chinese calendar. There are few versions as to how or why this day is celebrated. The most common version was related to a poet and Minister Qu Yuan (b.340-278BC) of the State of Chu. Qu Yuan was a politician and was banished when he opposed the alliance between the State of Chu and the more powerful Qin state. Twenty eight years after he was banished, the Qin state captured and occupied the Chu state and in despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by jumping into the Miluo River in Hunan province. When the locals heard about this, they raced out in their boats hoping to rescue him, and this is said how the Dragon Boat festival started. Following his death, the locals started to throw balls of sticky rice into the river hoping that the fish would eat the rice and not Qu Yuan. This is also how the zongzi or zong (festival) started too. Zong is a traditional Chinese rice dumpling made from glutinous rice. They are usually stuffed with different fillings such as pork meats, red beans, mushrooms and others and wrapped in bamboo leaves. To the west, this is known just as rice dumplings or sticky rice dumplings. Some dumplings are made with just plain glutinous rice with no filings. As it is plain, you eat them with fine sugar to compliment the taste. Yum!!

 

I believe all the days mentioned above are public holidays in Hong Kong except for the Spring Lantern Festival, which is celebrated on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year. The 15th day is also the last day of the celebration. Official Hong Kong Chinese New Year public holiday is usually for the first 3 days only, but in the old days, some private companies would close for the entire 15 days, especially for those Construction companies. I am not sure if such practices are still adopted as I am aware that nowadays many businesses, especially those in the hospitality services/restaurants are all open for business even on the first day of the Chinese New Year celebration.

 

Footnote 💨

The dimensions of these notes may not be the official sizes as originally announced. Here I have measured them individually as the heights of the notes on one end may be taller than the other due to inconsistencies in cutting from sheets into individual notes. This is quite common for paper banknotes.

 

In memory of Wai (RIP)