Speculators aim to make a quick buck on HSBC 150th anniversary banknotes
Lottery winners hoping to cash in on HSBC's special issue may be out of luck, says expert
Winners of a lottery to purchase HSBC's 150th anniversary banknotes filled the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai yesterday, many hoping to turn their luck into a quick profit by reselling the highly collectible items.
But weak demand for the notes from mainland speculators - many of whom now have their eyes on the booming stock market instead - may dash their hopes, one expert in collectible currency said.
The lottery winners had already paid for their commemorative HK$150 notes, and descended on the convention centre to collect them. Many at the event said they had mobilised every member of their family to participate in the draw for a chance to buy the notes.
Among them were C.K. Chung and his daughter, carrying a sheet of 35 uncut notes bought from HSBC for HK$23,880 and expected to have the greatest potential for a price increase among all available forms of the souvenir currency.
Apart from a maximum of one set of 35, each individual lottery winner was entitled to buy at most three single notes and one set of three uncut notes for HK$1,380. Two million of the anniversary notes are being issued.
"I will sell it for double," Chung said of his set of 35.