Dim Sum and Cantonese opera are just some of the images and themes that feature on new bank notes that were unveiled by Hong Kong’s Monetary Authority (HKMA) this afternoon.
According to a statement by the HKMA, the five designs depict Hong Kong’s International Financial Centre (HK$1,000), the city’s UNESCO Global Geopark (HK$500), Cantonese opera (HK$100), butterflies (HK$50), and dim sum (HK$20.)
The new notes will be issued by Hong Kong’s three note-issuing banks –the Bank of China, HSBC, and Standard Chartered Bank — and will go into circulation at the end of this year starting with the HK$1,000 note.
The HK$500 note will go into circulation in early 2019, and the HK$100, HK$50, and HK$20 notes will be ready for issue between 2019 and 2020.
In addition to the new design, the new notes will have six updated security features, including a dynamic shimmering pattern, a windowed metallic thread, an enhanced watermark, embossed textures, and a fluorescent and and concealed denomination.
The new notes will also have braille and tactile lines, and the HKMA has also sponsored the Hong Kong Society for the Blind to develop an app that will make it easier for visually-impaired people to distinguish between the different bank notes.
HKMA teased the announcement that the design of the new notes would be unveiled this week after posting this video on their newly set-up Facebook page on July 20:
The video, which features HKMA’s chief executive Norman Chan sitting in the center, shows a group of people at a dim sum restaurant saying “to yum cha use” followed by a beep sound.
“Yum cha” in Cantonese literally translates to “drinking tea”, but it’s a phrase used to refer to having dim sum and tea in a Chinese restaurant.
Another short video posted on the same day said that “big cows” — a slang term to refer to HK$500 notes — would soon turn into “big rocks”
And another video asked how many HK$1,000 notes can fit into a suitcase and a nylon red-white-blue bag you often see in Hong Kong (answer: HK$5 million and HK$70 million respectively.)
All existing banknotes will continue to be legal tender and be in circulation alongside the new notes, but they will be gradually withdrawn.
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