In a 15-year project focusing on family history, Vancouver collector Michael Souza is using currency and stamps to tell the story of his late father, who was a veteran of the Battle of Hong Kong. Born in Hong Kong on July 12, 1921, Henry Souza joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC) at the age of 18, only a year before Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland fanned the flames of war. “I’ve been able to blend that in with the life of my father, who was one 14,000 in the ‘Defence of Hong Kong,’ so it’s a mixture of family history with a numismatic and philatelic bent to it,” said the younger Souza, who has been a member of the North Shore Numismatic Society since 1988 and currently serves as its president, secretary and treasurer. Continue reading →
The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was one of three local banks authorized to issue banknotes in Hong Kong in the late 1930s, just before the start of the Second World War. (Photos by Michael Souza)
