What are “Queen's Head” colonial era Queen Elizabeth II Hong Kong coins worth?

What are “Queen's Head” colonial era Queen Elizabeth Hong Kong coins worth?

I was pleasantly surprised when taking a taxi in Hong Kong not so long ago to discover I’d been given an increasingly rare “queen Hong Kong coin” in my change. I gave the coin to my young son who was travelling with me who immediately wanted to know what such a coin was worth which I said I would investigate further…

There are just under 150 Queen Elizabeth Hong Kong era coins minted between 1955 with the first Mary Gillick 1953 portrait all the way through to 1992 which bare the 1985 Raphael Maklouf third portrait. As with most areas of coin collecting, the price spectrum for Queen Elizabeth Hong Kong coins ranges from thousands of dollars to a couple of dollars for a used modern example.

I will exclude the Gold Queen Elizabeth II collection minted between 1975 and 1987 as they were the topic of another discussion and have a look at some of the other most interesting Queen Elizabeth Hong Kong coins available. 

The elusive 1964 Queen Elizabeth II 5 cent commands high prices but is always a firm collector favourite when good examples occasionally surface on the market. The coin’s scarcity was the result of a delay from the Royal Mint which required the Government to reintroduce 5 cent notes in time for Chinese New Year in the absence of the coins. This subsequently meant that many of the newly minted coins became surplus to requirement and were therefore melted down before being released into circulation.

The slightly more affordable 1980 Queen Elizabeth II 10 cent is also highly sort after. Following the decision to decrease the size of the 10 cent coin in 1982, the mint never released the larger 1980 10 cents into broader circulation which makes it one of the most collectable modern Hong Kong coins today.

Probably the most interesting types of Queen Elizabeth II coins are the Specimen proofs from the Kings Norton Collection. Over the years between 1914 and 1991 the Kings Norton Mint in Birmingham struck coinages for more than 89 countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe and the remaining Hong Kong specimens continue to command high prices at auctions today.

Keep exploring!