Hong Kong Mint () was a

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

that existed from 1866 to 1868. Located in Cleveland Street,

Causeway Bay Causeway Bay is list of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong, an area and Victoria Park, Hong Kong, a bay on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, straddling the border of the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern and the Wan Chai District, Wan Chai ...

, it is the first coin mint of Hong Kong. A Mint Dam, on the slope of

Mount Butler Mount Butler or Pat Na Shan ( Chinese: 畢拿山) is a 436 m high hill on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Access Hong Kong Trail Stage 5 passes near the summit of Mount Butler. The best place to start the hike to the summit is from the Parkview apar ...

, was constructed to supply water to the mint. In early

colonial Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the British ...

, mixed currencies of various kinds were used. Although sterling was the official currency, it was not well accepted by the merchants and residents , especially Chinese, in Hong Kong. Various silver currencies remained the medium of trade in the city. In order to provide a steady supply of silver dollars in Hong Kong.

Hercules Robinson Hercules George Robert Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, (19 December 1824 – 28 October 1897), was a British colonial administrator who became the 5th Governor of Hong Kong and subsequently, the 14th Governor of New South Wales, the first Gove ...

, the then-

Hong Kong Governor The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. ...

, decided to found the Hong Kong Mint in 1864. The mint opened on 7May 1866 under the direction of the Master of the Mint, Thomas William KinderJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Vol 47 2007: "The Hong Kong Mint, 1864 - 1868: The History Of An Early Engineering Experiment by P. Kevin MacKeown but closed in 1868 during Richard MacDonnell's governorship. The reasons for this were the poor reception of the coins as well as continued debasement of the silver coins causing huge loss. The site was sold to

Jardine Matheson Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (also known as Jardines) is a Hong Kong-based Bermuda-domiciled British multinational conglomerate. It has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and secondary listings on the Singapore Exchange and ...

in 1868 and the mint machinery sold to the newly established

Japan Mint The is an Independent Administrative Institution of the Japanese government, responsible for producing and circulating the coins of Japan. The agency has its head office in Osaka with branches in Saitama and Hiroshima. The Japan Mint does not pr ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

References

External links

The Hong Kong Early Currency and The Unsuccessful Hong Kong Mint (in Chinese)

{{Authority control Government agencies established in 1866 Mints (currency) Currencies of Hong Kong 1866 establishments in Hong Kong 1868 disestablishments in Hong Kong

See also

References

External links