The island of Hong Kong was given to Great Britain as a Crown Colony in 1842. At the time, the acquisition of the”Barren Rock” was ridiculed by British merchants operating in the far East. The Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island were ceded to Britain in 1860 and the territory comprising most of the mainland of the colony was leased to Britain for 99 years in 1898. Under British rule, the free port of Hong Kong became the commercial center of the far East. Hong Kong reverted to control of the People’s Republic of China on July 1st, 1997. To mark this historic event, the British Royal Mint authorized a special commemorative striking of the British Trade Dollar, the”Last” Hong Kong dollar.