"In his classic study, "Manias, Panics and Crashes", Charles Kindleberger recounts how the Bank of England averted a run on its own finances in 1720. The bank managed to get its friends to the front of the queue and arranged for them to be paid, very slowly, in sixpences (then worth a fortieth of a pound). The friends then came back through another door to deposit the coins, which had to be laboriously counted again. This delayed the ability of other depositors to withdraw money until confidence was restored"