Taiwan new commemorative banknote mayhem

I suppose to write a post about something else just now but the Taiwan new commemorative banknote mayhem news in Taiwan China Post get my intention. Yesterday, Central Bank of China (CBC) release the “Collector's Version of the Republic of China Founding Centenary NT$100 Banknotes” with 500,00 sets up for grab among collectors. Almost all the set gone few hours after the sale immediately resold for as much as NT$2,000 each, far more than the face value of NT$300 and retail price of NT$500. Each set has three NT$100 bills in it. Pictures of people line up waiting to buy the new Taiwan commemorative banknote get my attention. I had seen people lining up for new coins, notes or stamps in Malaysia but its really a mayhem in Taiwan. Look like people are rallying to get a piece of the notes.

Its all because of  local collectors and investors vied with those from Hong Kong and China for the memorabilia expected to rise in value soon. The rich investors and collectors hired  College students, housewives, and old folks with time to kill. Some speculators, armed with NT$10 million cash each, even stood in the streets outside the CBC building in downtown Taipei offering cash in broad daylight to smiling people for the prizes in their hands. The more enterprising among them, allegedly from Hong Kong, even brought mobile toilets and provided lunchboxes and cold drinks for their hired hands, who were paid around NT$180 an hour.

According to analysts, the unprecedented rush on CBC was caused by the insatiable demand for currency sets in mainland China, where such items are easily resold for a profit, especially after the Jan. 6, 2011, first CBC sale of these banknote sets. On the other hand, contract-bound local coin and banknotes dealers were so anxious to avoid being penalized for failure to deliver the sets they simply bid up the prices. The first 300,000 sets, all sold out at the beginning of the years, could then fetch a price up to NT$8,000 in a resale, more than 20 times higher than their face value and retail price. 

Source: Taiwan China Post

Nowadays, its even hard to find China Silver coins in Malaysia markets. Many of the coins had been bought by Chinese from mainland China who bought them at a very high price. What happen if this kind of frenzy@crazy thing start happening in Malaysia? Or is it already happening? You tell me. I am here just to share some interesting story that I found.