Coins were valued once

Ten and 20-cent coins may be of little value these days, but there was a time when people were desperate for them. Back in the 1970s there was a shortage of the tiny coins because people hoarded them to have the exact change for newly installed cash boxes on buses.

Before that they had been able to buy a ticket from the conductor and get change.

'People needed a lot of 10-cent coins but the government had not made enough,' coin collector Cheng Po-hung said.

'The bus fare was about 70 to 80 cents and people had to prepare the exact amount to put in the box.

'People fought for 10-cent coins. Some restaurants even gave 10-cent stamps for change because there just weren't enough coins.'

Mr Cheng, who has been collecting coins for about 30 years, said such a shortage was hard to imagine in contemporary Hong Kong, where people could go almost anywhere or buy anything with two plastic cards - Octopus and a credit card. 'The role of coins is diminishing since they have become more popular. I only spend about HK$2 in 10 and 20 cents in a month, but I could spend HK$10 some years ago.'