City's 'father of design' tells how he became a craftsman of note

Just open your wallet if you want to check Henry Steiner's credentials

You may not know the name Henry Steiner, but you are no stranger to his work. Just open your wallet. You're likely to find banknotes in it that he designed.

Unlike other countries, where the government determines the design of its currency, Hong Kong allows the three note-issuing banks - HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of China (Hong Kong) - to handle the design of their bills. Mr Steiner has designed paper currency for both HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank for more than three decades.

Dubbed the 'father of Hong Kong design', he put renderings of the two lion statues in front of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in Central on the banknotes issued by the lender, starting in 1973. Six years later, he used five Chinese mythological animals on the Standard Chartered Bank notes series.

'There is a clear hierarchy in that the more important the note, the more important the animal,' he said. The set of banknotes starts with a fish on the HK$20, a turtle on the HK$50, a chi lin (unicorn) on the HK$100, a phoenix on the HK$500 and the dragon - the most powerful Chinese mythical animal - is on the highest denomination, the HK$1,000 note.

'The banknotes before my design had nothing related to the bank or to Hong Kong; they were dominated by the mythological figures of Greece or Rome,' said Mr Steiner. 'When you use the banknotes, you want people to know they are from Hong Kong,' he said. 'It is important to have the buildings there, the lions and the Chinese animals that have added personality and character to the city.'