2017-08-28 Mon

Life is to be celebrated every day and nobody does it better than note issuing banks that print money to celebrate their anniversary or any special occasion. It works for them always.

Standard Chartered celebrated it's one and half centuries of existence with special commemorative bills in 2009, and HSBC, not to be outdone, also came up with 150th-anniversary notes in 2015.Now comes Bank of China Hong Kong, which will issue 100th anniversary notes next month to mark its centennial.

The declaration is sure to trigger a treasure hunt among residents of this city that is obsessed with money. They are also crazy about collecting souvenirs, knick-knacks, and 7-Eleven freebies – because of their resale value.

This is the third time for Bank of China’s overseas arm, the city’s second-largest commercial bank, to issue commemorative notes.

In the year 2008, Bank of China issued special bills in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China to celebrate Beijing’s hosting of the world’s biggest sports event, the Summer Olympiad.

Four years ago, it issued commemorative notes to celebrate its 100th anniversary which created a havoc among investors, collectors, speculators, and everyone around.

This year the scenario is different as Bank of China, Hong Kong will offer three types of notes, three-in-one uncut notes and 30-in-one uncut notes in September to mark its establishment 100 years ago.

And this time, the number of notes to be issued will be a record high, more than the two million HSBC issued two years ago. But no one is sure if the supply will meet the demand.

Bank of China issued the special notes on two previous occasions and always managed to stay above the issue price, however other commemorative notes weren’t as lucky.

It is said that these notes cost around HK$5,250, and the difference between the cost and the offer price usually went to charity.

The HBSC notes haven’t been received well and one reason is that it is neatly packed. According to the trader, the notes come in a box set, which makes them extremely difficult to move to China for resale.

In other words, save speculators all the trouble by giving them A4-sized notes wrapped in old newspapers which they can easily take across the border.