All coins and HK$10 notes are issued by the Hong Kong government, but each of the three private institutions issues its own designs for the HK$20, HK$50, HK$100, HK$500, and HK$1,000 bill denominations. The banknotes are printed by Hong Kong Note Printing Limited.Macau also circulates the Hong Kong dollar, contributing to the currency’s status as the 13th most traded in the world as of 2016.Hong Kong was established as a free trading port in 1841, but it wasn’t until 1863 that Britain began issuing special coinage as a subsidiary of the British pound – marking the start of the Hong Kong silver dollar and half dollar coins. Later that decade, HSBC and Standard Chartered – then known as the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China – began to circulate the Hong Kong dollar in the city.In 1935, the Hong Kong dollar, as its own entity and distinct currency, was born, with a fixed peg of one British pound to HK$16 two years later. The discussion is important given Hong Kong’s increasing financial and economic ties to Beijing. Most recently, a run occurred in 2008 on the Bank of East Asia out of concerns for the bank’s solvency.Worries have arisen that a rush on banks could occur if the Hong Kong dollar were depegged from the greenback.

Source: The Star March 25, 2018 09:11 UTC