Out with the small change ...

BrianD

Belgium is proposing getting rid of the 1 cent and 2 cent coins. Consumer associations here are saying it will lead to retailers rounding prices up and increasing inflation. What do you think?

In Australia and NZ they got rid of the copper in 1994. All electronic and cheque transactions can not be rounded. Cash tranactions are rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cent as follows:

1 & 2 cents – rounded DOWN to the nearest 10
3 & 4 cents – rounded UP to the nearest 5
6 & 7 cents – rounded DOWN to the nearest 5
8 & 9 cents – rounded UP to the nearest 10

They also found the following:

SMALL STORES: Very surprisingly, 95% of shopkeepers will gain or lose no more than 88 cents in 1000 transactions. Only 1.15% of shopkeepers (one in 87) will lose more than $1 in 1000 transactions, and .06% (four in 10,000) will lose more than $1.50. These results are found using the "Central Limit Theorem", a key result in probability

LARGE STORES: Even though losing two cents on each transaction would give a loss of $5256, 95% of such large stores will be within $14.50 of breaking even at the end of the year! The 95% range grows slowly, as the square root of the number of transactions. So, for example, after 100,000 transactions the 95% range doesn't increase to $88 from 88 cents (100 times 88 cents) but rather to $8.80.

Of course there is nothing to stop retailers rounding up their prices in advance to the nearest 5c. BTW Finland, does not have Euro 1c and 2c coins.

eth0_

I think we should ditch them too, I have a big bowl full of 1&2c coins at home, they just weigh you down if you keep them in your wallet!

grumpytrousers

I agree. any 1's, 2's or 5's left in my pocket at the end of the day go into a jar with the intention of counting 'em out and buying - dunno - a newspaper with 'em. I still don't have the nerve to go to the local newsagent and buy the Saturday Times with the handful of coppers.

Nor, it has to be said, are my trouser pockets reinforced to handle such weight.

*edit* i should point out since i started this collection, i've enough for quite a few newspapers! i'd bag it in the bank and change up only the f***ers probably charge you for that as well....

giveth

I also agree. I actually throw my 1s and 2s in the bin even though i think its illegal to do so. :eek:
If i remember i put them into the charity jars on the shop counters. They will be the only ones to loose out.

maxheadroom

BrianD wrote:

BTW Finland, does not have Euro 1c and 2c coins.

Just to make things clear, in Finland they still price everything down to the last cent (so things still cont 67c or €1.99 etc). They then round your final bill to the nearest 5c

Frank Grimes

I had been thinking the same thing myself when the Euro came in, (I remember my Australian cousins saying they were glad to see the back of the 1 and 2 cent coins at the time) I think it would be great to be rid of them.
This being Ireland though, I'd have to agree with the consumer associations. At the very least the prices would be rounded up to the nearest 5c although I'm sure some places would make it an even 10 or something.

spongebob

Anyone over 40 will remember when the abolished the oul LSD in 1972

M

spongebob

Anyone over 40 will remember when they abolished the oul LSD in 1972

M

vinnyfitz

maxheadroom wrote:

Just to make things clear, in Finland they still price everything down to the last cent (so things still cont 67c or €1.99 etc). They then round your final bill to the nearest 5c

Yep - that is in Finnish legislation - it could be made part of legislation here too. Seems like the smart way to do it.

Ripwave

I never have more than a few of these in my pocket at any given time - every couple of days I use them to pay for something.

As for needing reinforced pockets - you can't complain that they're too small and insignificant at the same time that you're complaining that they're so heavy they'll wear a hole in your pocket.

Personally, I think that whoever set the Euro at the value it is at, only to have to dump the 1c coint 5 years later because it's too small, deserves a good kick in the arse!

Sleipnir

I counted up all the small change in my huge jar at the beginning of this year,bagged it all and brought it to the bank. €400 with which I had a fantastic meal at The Lobster Pot.

dudara

I'd often use the small coins on the bus, but bus drivers here in Cork often refuse to accept them. too much bother I suppose. Instead of E1.20, they'll happily accept less than that rather than taking it in 1's and 2's.

Dr. Loon

Sleipnir wrote:

I counted up all the small change in my huge jar at the beginning of this year,bagged it all and brought it to the bank. €400 with which I had a fantastic mean at The Lobster Pot.

That's the way to do it.
Whoever threw their small change in the bin is a supreme idiot.

grumpytrousers

fantastic mean at The Lobster Pot.

Is that the chipper in limerick? Crikey - that's a lot of battered sausages and curried chips!

giveth

Whoever threw their small change in the bin is a supreme idiot.

Ehem... Well just cause i'm amazingly rich and have no need to worry aboout those little coins, that doesnt make me an idiot, that just makes me really cool and rich. :cool:

billy the squid

They are a nuisance. they are not even worth picking up when you drop them 1 and 2 cent coins.

mike65

Its not so much time to end minting 1 and 2 cent pieces but to end the 99c/49c pricing practice. Then they'd die out anyway. Someone noted the 1c has less buying power than the old halfpenny when it went west, so why it was ever introduced is a mystery.

Mike.

govinda

I dump any change smaller than a 50c coin in a bottle and empty it every so often to put into a savings account, its surprising how it adds up!

Am glad to see these more and more often in Kildare and Dublin - they save a lot of counting!

mike65

govinda wrote:

Am glad to see these more and more often in Kildare and Dublin - they save a lot of counting!

Brilliant I want one!

Mike.

Typedef

Ditching 1 & 2 cent coins to me, seems like an Orwellian, newspeak solution.

Doubleplusungood and such.

Ripwave

govinda wrote:

Am glad to see these more and more often in Kildare and Dublin - they save a lot of counting!

How much "commission" do they charge?

govinda

Ooops, my bad! There's actually a 9.5% service charge to the user.

Original Message: None to the user, if thats what you mean? I guess the shop/petrol station must pay to have the machine in store - well, it saves them going to the bank for small change and there's always the potential of people spending more when they get their voucher and realise how much the shrapnel is worth!

K2

With all the talk on the radio about this I finally got up off my butt and got some money bags from the bag, went home, emptied the two bottles stuffed full of coins and bagged them. Went back down to the bank this lunch time and exchanged a big bag of schrapnel for 70 notes and 4yoyos. (at no charge to me by the bank!)

so don't believe its worth nothing, you can change it into notes or, if you don't want to get your hands dirty counting all those coins, just bring it to the nearest charity box. Or you can give it to me