+HOWEVER,+ THE REPORT SAID,
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3: 1975
IF THE NOTE WERE REPLACED BY A COIN, ONLY 40 MILLION COINS WOULD BE NEEDED+,
+BASED ON THE PRESENT DAY PRICE LEVEL, THERE WOULD BE A SAVING OF ABOUT $9 MILLION IN THE MAINTENANCE COST OF THE $5 CURRENCY UNIT,+ THE REPORT NOTED.
AFTER ASCERTAINING THAT THERE WAS A NEED TO INTRODUCE THE 20-CENT, $2 AND $5 COINS GEARED TO HONG KONG'S FUTURE DEMAND THE COMMITTEE GOT ON TO THE WORK OF REVIEWING THE PRESENT COINAGE WHICH IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED TOO LARGE AND HEAVY.
ADVICE ON THIS ASPECT OF THE COINS WAS SOUGHT FROM THE ROYAL MINT -THE MANUFACTURER OF HONG KONG'S COINAGE.
HAVING TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT THE FACT THAT COINS OF DIFFERENT VALUES CIRCULATING TOGETHER HAVE TO BE READILY DISTINGUISHABLE FROM ONE ANOTHER BY SIGHT, TOUCH AND MACHINES, THE COMMITTEE DECIDED THAT THE 20-CENT AND $2 COINS, WHICH WOULD BE LIGHTER BUT SIMILAR IN SIZE TO THE 10-CENT AND $1 COINS RESPECTIVELY, SHOULD BE DESIGNED WITH SCALLOPED-EDGE.
THE COMMITTEE ALSO RECOMMENDED THAT THE $5 COIN, SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN THE $1 PIECE, BE TEN-SIDED.
TO HAVE A VALUE/SIZE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NEW COINS, THE COMMITTEE PROPOSED THAT THE SIZE OF THE EXISTING 50-CENT AND $1 COINS BE RELATIVELY REDUCED..
ON THE DESIGN OF THE COINS, THE COMMITTEE TOOK THE ROYAL MINT'S ADVICE THAT THE QUEEN'S HEAD PORTRAIT ON THE OBVERSE SIDE OF HONG KING'S PRESENT COINS IS OUT OF DATE AND THE LATEST EFFIGY OF THE QUEEN AUTHORISED FOR USE ON COMMONWEALTH COINAGE BE MINTED ON ALL HONG KONG'S COINS ORDERED REGARDLESS OF CHANGES IN SPECIFICATIONS.
TO ACHIEVE UNIFORMITY IN METAL CONTENTS IN THE CENT AND DOLLAR DENOMINATION COINS, THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED THAT ALL CENT- DENOMINATION COINS BE MADE OF NICKEL BRASS WHILE CUPRO-NICKEL WAS PROPOSED TO BE USED IN MINTING THE DOLLAR DENOMINATION COINS.
ALL THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE NOW BEING IMPLEMENTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OVER THE THREE-YEAR PERIOD AS PROPOSED BY THE COMMITTEE.
THE FIRST TWO NEW COINS TO BE INTRODUCED ARE THE 20-CENT AND $2 COINS WHICH WILL BECOME LEGAL TENDER ON AUGUST 18, 1975.
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