Getting Rid Of The Eurocent
May 23, 2013 in Daily Bulletin
Michael Steen writes that European Commission is considering a proposal to abolish the one Eurocent coin – much to the dismay of specific groups of people:
- The Eurocent coin costs more to make than it is worth – and people usually just let them accumulate rather than actually spending them which means that more have to be minted every year.
- However some fear that if the one cent coin is abolished then retailers will round their prices up, making things more expensive.
- One German children’s charity believes that they would lose hundreds of thousands of Euros a year since the one cent coin makes up a quarter of its cash donations.
- The Netherlands and Finland have both gotten rid of the one cent coin. Retailers can still set prices at 99 cents and those who pay by cash have to pay a cent more.
- For the most part though it doesn’t really make a difference since most people just pay by card.
Read more about the problem, and alternate proposals that the European Commission is considering here.
Source: Financial Times
Via: Marginal Revolution
Having moved to Europe from Canada, a country that has recently abolished its lowest-value coin and rounds to the nearest $0.05, I hope this happens soon. It’s annoying having near-worthless 1 and 2 cent coins cluttering my pockets.
“For the most part though it doesn’t really make a difference since most people just pay by card.”
Not true for some countries in the Euro zone!
Which ones if you don’t mind me asking?
Italy is pretty much a cash society. Even gas stations like cash.