The Hong Kong Coin Connection

11/09/2026

Japanese Puppet State coins - various.

In 1931, Japan invaded China by starting a false flag operation, now known as the Mukden incident. They invaded many Northern parts of China in order to gain access to vital resources and installed various puppet governments. One of these territories, Manchukuo, was actually administered by Puyi, the last Emperor of China.

They minted many coins in order to further solidify control and they are now quite popular to collect. Mostly aluminium or tin and heavily circulated by the local population at the time, finding them in good condition can be challenging and there are many key dates and types that are highly sought after by collectors, such as the last example, a Manchukuo year 10 10 cent coin.

The puppet states were later used as launching points for further invasion into China and Asia later on. Many horrible atrocities were carried out by Japanese soldiers under the guise of liberation from colonialism.

02/09/2026

They were supposed to be sent to Louisiana, instead they ended up at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico... At least most of them did. Apparently a few made it to China.

In the 1770s, the economy of the Spanish Louisiana Territory was on the verge of collapsing due to the circulation of worthless paper money. The King of Spain decided to bring real currency in to stabilise the situation and 37500 pounds of silver coins were loaded into the Spanish brig 'El Cazador' in Mexico. She left port on the 11th of January, 1784 and was never seen again.

Most of the coins minted for this operation were loaded into the infamous ship, and its loss caused irreparable economic harm to Spain, which eventually led to The United States of America buying the Territory, the event being known as the Louisiana Purchase.

The wreck was discovered in 1993 and after years of appraisal, 360,000 coins were sold to the public as a piece of American history. Most of the examples are heavily corroded by centuries under the ocean, the salt water damaging the metal.

But the example on the right is not your typical El Cazador 8 Reales. This one somehow ended up in China rather than at the bottom of the ocean. the Chinese chopmarks are proof of this.

Mint records were not well-maintained, and it's unknown exactly how scarce this type of coin is. However, it is uncommon to find one of these coins without salt water damage. It further demonstrates the significance of the silver trade that occurred between Spain, South America and China back in the 17th century, and is a cool divergence from the norm.

04/08/2026

I still don't have enough pachyderms.

16/07/2026

16/07/2026

Macau Hydrofoil/Hotel and Casino Lisboa Commemorative Medal (1987) - this silver medal features two important icons of the former Portuguese colony, the Hydrofoil ferry service that ran between Hong Kong and Macau, and the Hotel/Casino Lisboa.

Though close neighbours, both colonies differ in many ways. Macau with it's legal casinos and Portuguese law, while Hong Kong outlaws casino gambling but has lottery, horse-racing, sports betting and relies on British-style law.

Nevertheless, both territories cooperated on many levels, and Macau because a holiday hotspot destination for people from HK. This grew exponentially when the high-speed Boeing Hydrofoil ferries helped reduce travel time to under 1 hour due to the innovative design that lifted the ship out of the water onto skis and instantly made it an historic icon of the South China Sea.

With the introduction of the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge, one wonders how much longer the ferry service will last. The ships still see service today and Macau is now the "Las Vegas of the East" with more casinos than ever before dotting the tiny city, and a rich Sino-Portugese culture.

14/07/2026

Was able to upgrade my Meiji era Year 3 silver coin set! The design of the slabs is one of my favourites and these coins were likely struck by machines from the old Hong Kong mint which shut down in 1868. These were struck in Japan 2 years later.

13/07/2026

United Kingdom (1972) Edward Duke of Windsor medal made following his death.

This was the only commemorative medal created in the entire British Empire upon the passing of the former and short-reigned King. It was designed by C. A. Holman and minted by John Pinches Medalists Ltd in London. All the proceeds were donated to charity.

What makes this piece fascinating goes deeper than his abdication. At the time, the fact he was marrying an American divorcee was enough to force him from the throne, but it was later revealed to the royal family and the public that he had Pro-German sympathies long before hostilities started between the UK and the Reich.

He had visited the Fatherland in 1937 and apparently taken a liking to the Fascist government, enough so that he gave sensitive British and allied military secrets to them and had formulated a plan that intended to make him a puppet King under German control once his country and subjects were "bombed into submission". To learn more, search for 'The Marburg files".

Mintage is unknown and although it sigma-verifies as 90% silver, it has no hallmarks on it. Extremely strange for any British silver where such practices are basically law and mandatory. One might think the UK government and all related parties wanted to do as little as possible for the commemoration of the Duke's passing while not arousing suspicion. This all helps make this piece collectible and interesting.

22/06/2026

This 3 gold coin set was made to commemorate the handover of Hong Kong on July 1st, 1997. Limited edition of 500 pieces. Incredible and rare piece of history.

21/06/2026

In 1581, the Emperor of China declared that all tax had to be paid in silver. In a country where silver was less than abundant, this created a surge in demand for the metal. At approximately the same time, the silver deposits in Peru, Lima, and other parts of the Americas were starting to be mined for their precious ores. This led to one of the biggest trade networks in the world, over 400 years ago.

One of the results of this was the creation of the silver ingot or "sycee". Since China didn't have any official silver coins until the 1890s, most business was done with ingots. A weight system was developed using taels which was 37.5 grams.

Silver was collected during business hours and then taken to the refineries at night where they melted the "broken" or loose silver down into ingots, which were then stamped for their purpose, sometimes with the creators name or an assayer mark. For instance, the first ingot shown is stamped to say "Emperor Guang Xu's Silver Tax". Ingots were also made into certain shapes depending on the province of origin. The most famous would probably be the saddle sycee from Yunnan.

Authentication is difficult because many fakes circulate in the market to this day. Most experts I've witnessed check the bottom first. The holes created by the gas bubbles during the smelting process seem to be indicative of the genuine article. One can imagine the shapes and patterns should be very irregular, heavily carbonated and filled with clay or silica crystals based on ancient production methods that are no longer easily replicated.

Even the stamps can be faked because certain names or marks might increase the value. They should be of the appropriate period, calligraphy and vocabulary. I've heard them say that the stamp should generally be applied poorly or crudely. Stamps that are "too nice" tend to be applied to genuine ingots in the 1970s or later to increase the value.

Finally, the ingots should be 90% silver since they were made from trade dollars.

If you want to learn more, Absolute History on YouTube has a video titled "O***m Wars: How The Chinese Silver Trade Changed History". I highly recommend it.

11/06/2026

New samurai coins in stock - feel free to enquire this is a small selection!