Wartime pressure and a rapidly growing population created an acute shortage of low-value coins in Hong Kong. To keep everyday payments moving, the Government commissioned Noronha and Company Limited of Old Bailey Street to print a local three-denomination note series.
Design and denomination
At approximately 95 × 55 mm, P-315 is the largest note in the 1941 trio. Its red face and blue reverse carry Financial Secretary R.R. Todd's printed signature and an individual serial number, features shared with the other locally printed values.
Ten cents was the highest value in this emergency subsidiary-note set, yet it represented only one tenth of a Hong Kong dollar. The larger paper and strong red face made it readily distinguishable from the smaller brown one-cent and green five-cent notes.
Catalogue varieties
Serial prefixes separate the listed varieties: P-315a has no prefix and P-315b carries prefix A. Because both varieties share the same basic colours and format, the letter immediately before the serial is the decisive point to record.
Its blue reverse is fully printed, making P-315 a two-sided note. By contrast, the postwar George VI ten-cent successor was larger but uniface, unnumbered and blank on the back.
Collector's perspective
The broad red face readily shows fading, washing and localised ink disturbance, while the blue back can reveal whether heavy folds penetrate both sides. Check that the A prefix, when present, has the same impression and wear as the serial rather than judging the variety from the number alone.
The larger 95 × 55 mm format gives more room for corner creases and edge tears than the lower values. Note any trimming that alters margin balance, as well as repairs crossing the serial, signature or denomination.
Series endpoint
Released on 16 October 1941 alongside P-314, P-315 completed the one-, five- and ten-cent set. Japanese occupation began in December, sharply curtailing its intended circulation; after the 1945 liberation, a new uniface portrait issue replaced this serialled local-print format.