The Hong Kong coinage, including 10¢, 20¢, 50¢, $1, $2, $5 & $10, is issued by Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Hong Kong Monetary Authority

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority or HKMA is Hong Kong's central banking institution . It is a government authority founded on 1 April 1993 via the consolidation of "Office of the Exchange Fund" and the "Office of the Commissioner of Banking"...

 on behalf of the Government of Hong Kong

Government of Hong Kong

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, commonly the Hong Kong Government, is led by the Chief Executive as Head of the Government, who is also the head of the Hong Kong SAR...

. From 1863 until 1992 these coins were embossed with the reigning British monarch's effigy. From January 1993 to November 1994, a new series depicting the bauhinia flower

Bauhinia blakeana

Bauhinia blakeana is an orchid tree of the genus Bauhinia with large thick leaves and striking purplish red flowers. The fragrant, orchid-like flowers are usually across, and bloom from early November to the end of March...

 was gradually issued, including a new denomination of $10. Since the beginning of the coin replacement programme in 1993, over 585 million coins featuring Queen Elizabeth II have been withdrawn from circulation. However, these coins remain legal tender.
The total value of coins in circulation in Hong Kong can be found in Monthly Statistical Bulletin and the Annual Report.

Coins currently in circulation

Since the introduction of Octopus card

Octopus card

The Octopus card is a rechargeable contactless stored value smart card used to transfer electronic payments in online or offline systems in Hong Kong...

 in 1997, small value payments and purchases in Hong Kong are mostly done as Octopus transactions. As a result, usage of coins in Hong Kong has dropped significantly. The Hong Kong Government has not minted any new coins since 1998.

The obverse

Obverse and reverse

Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...

 of each newest coin bears the standard bauhinia, with the word “Hong Kong” in Chinese characters and English. The reverse features the denomination in Chinese characters and English with a large Arabic numeral in the centre and the year of issue below.

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...  Series
Value	Description		Date of
	Obverse	Reverse	first minting	issue
10¢	Queen Elizabeth II, "QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND"	Value, title of the country, year of minting	1948
10¢			1982
20¢			1975
50¢	Queen Elizabeth II, "QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND"	Value, title of the country, year of minting	1951
50¢	Queen Elizabeth II, "QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND"	Value, title of the country, year of minting	1977
$1	Queen Elizabeth II, "QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND"	Crest in the Coat of Arms of Hong Kong, value, title of the country, year of minting	1960
$2			1975
$5			1976
$5		Value, title of the country, year of minting	1980
Bauhinia Bauhinia blakeana Bauhinia blakeana is an orchid tree of the genus Bauhinia with large thick leaves and striking purplish red flowers. The fragrant, orchid-like flowers are usually across, and bloom from early November to the end of March...  Series
10¢	Bauhinia, "HONG KONG"	Value, year of minting	1993	May 1994
20¢				October 1993
50¢
$1	Bauhinia, "HONG KONG"	Value, year of minting	1993	October 1993
$2				January 1993
$5
$10	Bauhinia, "HONG KONG"	Value, year of minting	1993	November 1994

1867 1$ silver coin .

Historical denominations and coins

The following coin denominations are no longer circulated by the HKMA.

Value	Diameter	Weight	Thickness	Edge
1 mill 1863-1866	15 mm	0.98 gr	0.8 mm	Plain
1 cent 1863-1926	27 mm	7.53 g	1.8 mm	Plain
1 cent 1931-1941	21.5 mm	4.05 g	1.8 mm	Plain
5 cent 1866-1935	15 mm	1.34 g	0.8 mm	Reeded
5 cent 1937-1988	16.51 mm	2.59 g	1.73 mm	Reeded and reeded security edge.

• The 1 mill coin was discontinued due to its unpopularity.

• 1 cent last issued in 1934, but the last mintage which was melted down by the Japanese or lost was dated 1941.

• The 5 cent coin was last issued in 1979 and minted for uncirculated coin sets in 1988.

The following current denominations that have changed in size and or shape.

Commemorative coins and coin sets

Opening of the Lantau Link, May 1997

To mark the opening of the Lantau Link

Lantau Link

The Lantau Link, formerly known as the Lantau Fixed Crossing, is a series of infrastructures linking Hong Kong International Airport to the urban areas in Hong Kong. It was officially opened on 27 April 1997, and it opened to traffic on 22 May the same year.-Infrastructure:The Lantau Link is 3.5 km...

, the HKMA issued a philatelic numismatic cover in May 1997, the first of its kind in Hong Kong. The Lantau Link is the first road link between Lantau Island, where the new airport is located, and the rest of Hong Kong.

Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, July 1997

To commemorate the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July 1997, the HKMA, on behalf of the Government, issued a HK$1,000 commemorative proof gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 coin, 97,000 proof sets and an unknown number of brilliant uncirculated set of seven coins with the same denominations as the coins currently in circulation. On the obverse side of each of these seven coins is the standard Bauhinia design, with a special commemorative design and denomination on the reverse.

Opening of the Hong Kong International Airport, July 1998

To mark the opening of the Hong Kong International Airport in July 1998, 15,000 $1,000 commemorative proof gold coin was issued. The gold coin features a design symbolising Hong Kong's ascent into the new century and bears the standard Bauhinia design on the obverse side.

The Five Blessings Commemorative Coin Set, February 2002

To mark the fifth year of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the HKMA, on behalf of the Government, issued 60,000 limited edition coin set that consists of five HK$50 silver coins with a gold-plated inner core, and a 9999 pure gold medallion. The five silver coins are individually engraved with a phrase and symbol of traditional blessing.

Security features

The $10 coin is made of two metals: a white nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

 alloy

Alloy

An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...

 outer ring and a brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

inner core. The standard bauhinia on the obverse gives a sharp embossed image. The neat bonding between the outer and inner rings gives it another unique feature. The $10 coin has an alternate plain and milled edge. The $5 coin has a milled edge. A groove running within the milled edging contains raised English and Chinese characters, which read “Hong Kong Five Dollars”. The $1 and 50¢ coins have simple milled edges. The $2 and 20¢ coins have scalloped edges. The 10¢ coin has a plain edge. Under Hong Kong law (sections 98 – 102 of Cap. 200), anyone who makes or possesses or controls or passes any counterfeit note or coin commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for up to 14 years.

Adopted from the official website of Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Permission granted.