Paid in coins!

In 2013, a noodle shop owner in Kunming, China, was ordered by a court to pay 68,000 yuan (about $11,000) in damages after a physical altercation with a customer and her husband. He paid most of the amount normally, then delivered the remaining 10,000 yuan (roughly $1,600) in 100,000 one-jiao (0.1 yuan) coins packed into eight large bags, apparently out of spite. The recipient took half the coins to a local bank, where 18 staff members spent about a workday manually counting and sorting the 5,000 yuan worth. While the coin payment created significant inconvenience for the bank, it used valid one-jiao coins and was an extremely cumbersome way to settle the remaining payment. The incident highlighted a spiteful form of protest and the practical challenges of handling large volumes of small-denomination currency in Kunming at the time.