Hong Kong updated the royal portrait to Elizabeth II in 1961 while retaining the uniface, unnumbered subsidiary-note format inherited from the postwar George VI issues. Five cents returned in paper form only briefly as coin supply moved towards normality.
Design and denomination
P-326 is green and measures about 85 × 48 mm, closely matching the dimensions and denomination colour of the George VI P-322. The face substitutes Elizabeth II's portrait and bears the printed signature of Financial Secretary J.J. Cowperthwaite.
The familiar green palette links three generations of five-cent paper—the two-sided P-314 of 1941, uniface George VI P-322, and Elizabeth II P-326. Portrait, numbering and reverse treatment, rather than colour alone, establish which issue is present.
Dating and attribution
P-326 is catalogued as ND (1961–1965), while some references describe it as a 1965 emergency issue. These are differing dating conventions for the same short-lived type; the Elizabeth II portrait and Cowperthwaite signature provide firmer identification than assigning a printed year that the note does not carry.
P-326 is uniface and unnumbered: its reverse was intentionally left blank, and no serial or prefix should appear. Face show-through and paper marks visible from the back are physical characteristics, not a second printed design.
Collector's perspective
The green face should be checked for uneven fading around Elizabeth II's portrait and the Cowperthwaite signature. A central fold can cross both attribution points, while edge splits on the 85 × 48 mm sheet may affect the denomination; inspect the blank back for washing, thinning and repairs.
Because there are no serial varieties, a useful record focuses on portrait and signature clarity, natural paper surface, margin completeness and any offset on the blank back. These details describe the individual note without inventing a finer catalogue division.
A short final chapter
P-326 revisited the format of the 1945 P-322 with a new monarch, but it did not repeat that issue's four-year bridge to incoming coins. As coin supply normalised, five-cent paper ceased after 1965; only the one-cent P-325 continued through later Financial Secretary signatures.