TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1976
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NEW FIVE-DOLLAR COIN
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THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW FIVE-DOLLAR COIN HAS BEEN ADVANCED TO AUGUST THIS YEAR.
ANNOUNCING THIS TODAY, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT THE ESCALATION OF BANK NOTĖ PRINTING COSTS HAD MADEIT ECONOMICALLY BENEFICIAL TO DO SO.
HE SAID THAT FOR TECHNICAL REASONS, IT HAD PROVED NECESSARY TO DEFER THE ISSUE OF THE NEW ONE-DOLLAR COIN.
AS RECOMMENDED BY THE COINAGE REVIEW COMMITTEE, THE NEW FIVE-DOLLAR COIN WILL BE TEN-SIDED WITH A PLAIN EDGE SIMILAR TO THE TWO-DOLLAR AND TWENTY-CENT COINS NOW IN CIRCULATION.
IT WILL MEASURE 31 MM DIAGONALLY AND WEIGH 10.76 GRAMS AND WILL BE ROUGHLY THE SAME SIZE AS THE PRESENT ONE-DOLLAR COIN. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF ITS SHAPE AND A, REDUCTION IN THE THICKNESS OF THE COIN, IT WILL BE SLIGHTLY LIGHTER IN WEIGHT THAN THE PRESENT DOLLAR COIN.
AN ABRIDGED VERSION OF THE COINAGE REVIEW COMMITTEE'S REPORT WAS PUBLISHED IN 1974 AS A STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT POLICY ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG'S COINAGE. THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS REPORT INCLUDED THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW TWO-DOLLAR AND TWENTLY-CENT COINS, WHICH HAVE NOW BECOME FAMILIAR TO EVERYONE. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS WERE FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE ONE-DOLLAR COIN IN 1976 AND THE FIFTY-CENT COIN IN 1977 WITH COINS BOTH SMALLER AND LIGHTER IN WEIGHT AND FOR THE MINTING OF A NEW FIVE-DOLLAR COIN TO REPLACE THE BANK NOTES CURRENTLY IN USE.
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