Before Hong Kong became a British crown colony in 1841, it belonged to China. This is why the Chinese currency system was in use on the peninsula. For every-day-trade the Chinese cash coins ch'ien were in circulation. For larger transactions, silver was used. It was available either in form of silver ingots or as Mexican dollars. Especially the Mexican dollar, also known as peso, was highly popular. The attempt to replace it by British silver coins worked only in 1895, when a trade dollar was issued for East Asia, which eventually evolved into the Hong Kong-dollar still in use today. The introduction of British small coins from bronze, on the other hand, was more successful. Cent denominations especially for use in Hong Kong were struck since 1863. They bore the image of the respective ruler and inscriptions in English and Chinese. This piece was issued during the reign of King Edward VI (1901-1910)I.