THOUSANDS of people in Hong Kong queued yesterday to buy commemorative banknotes marking the centenary of the Bank of China in Hong Kong.

    Eager buyers endured overnight rain to get a place at the front of the queues at 50 bank branches where the notes were available since Monday, local media reported.

    The commemorative notes include 1.1 million single HK$100 (US$13) notes, 100,000 sets of three uncut notes, and 20,000 sets of 30 uncut notes for HK$150, HK$600 and HK$6,000, respectively. The bills are on sale until Feb. 20, and buyers can pick up a maximum of two single notes.

    The notes are legal tender but are intended more as collectibles than for general circulation.

    Outside the bank’s headquarters in Central in Hong Kong Island, a queue of 1,000 people stretched along a footbridge and reached a car park opposite the road, local media reported. A branch in Tin Hau had to use an area outside Tin Hau Temple to house hundreds of buyers.

    Some buyers have been approached by dealers with offers to purchase the notes at markup prices, they told local media.

    Some buyers told local media they had been asked by dealers to re-sell their commemorative notes to them for profit.

    On Monday, some reported selling the HK$100 bills — for which they paid HK$150 — for HK$500 or more each.

    The notes feature images of the Great Wall and the Bank of China Building in Beijing on the front, and the Bank of China Tower and the Hong Kong skyline on the back.

    The bank, founded in Shanghai in February 1912, is the only one in China that has operated continuously for 100 years. (SD-Agencies)