Hong Kong 1941 1 Cent

Hong Kong 1941 1 Cent - Obverse

   In the 1930s, all the coins for Hong Kong were minted in England and shipped to the colony.  When war started in December 1941, five shipments of the 1 Cent coins were enroute to the colony.  According to the records at the British Royal Mint, one shipment was unloaded in South Africa, returned to the Mint and melted down.  The fate of the remaining four shipments is unknown and there are rumors that one shipment was sunk by a Japanese submarine and another shipment was captured by the Japanese in Hong Kong and melted down for the war.  Although…

Continue reading

Hong Kong 1941 $1 Overprint

Hong Kong 1941 $1 Overprint

When the Japanese Army attacked Hong Kong on 8 December 1941 and overwhelmed the defenders on the mainland, the remaining British forces retreated to Hong Kong Island.   While under siege on Hong Kong Island there emerged a shortage of coins and $1 banknotes.  The shortage of the $1 banknotes arose when the Japanese distributed leaflets warning that all notes over $10 would be worthless after the Japanese took over the colony.   To relieve the situation, a stock of The Bank of China 5 Yuan notes were discovered on the premises of The Commercial Press Limited located on King…

Continue reading