Germany considers dropping smallest Euro coins

From the EU Observer: Germany considers dropping smallest euro coins

I know where they all went, all over my apartment and the floorboards of my car. I throw the little bastards into a container at home because it's just too much trouble to carry them along with all of the other 400 coin denominations in circulation.

So the smallest denomination of money will be TEN TIMES what it was 2 years ago!

I know they have "fair" rounding in Australia but this is out of order!

More coin collecting machines in banks AND SUPERMARKETS (as in UK) would be sa start to getting coinage back into circulation!

True enough. Eurozone price inflation (or price gouging) is out of control. The shops would see this as a go ahead to jack prices up again. I can't imagine they will round down to the nearest five.

My preference would be to just get rid of cash altogether. I lived the last 4 years in Canada, and you almost never need the stuff. I hate the fact that I have to walk around with loads of cash here.

rubbish !!

market forces stop people from jacking the prices up. All you need is for the government to say that rounding can only ber done on the total price of all goods. pricing on individual goods must remain the same. ie still priced in 1 cent multiples and not in 5 cent multiples.

Competition usually means the shops actually always round down so you save a maximum of 4 cents

it makes sense. australia did away with 1 vand 2 c pieces long ago ( around 1990 i think.

I cant beleive the european union were stupid enough to actually have 1 and 2 cent pieces when the bought in the euro anyway.

end of rant.

I don't think I get that. If individual items are priced in 1 cent multiples and not in 5 cent multiples, but you have no 2 or 1 cent coins and must pay cash, how do you pay?

And at any rate, "market forces" - if there are such things and they can be understood - did not stop the great Eurozone restaurant cash-grab. There is a reason why it's called the Teuro in Germany.

Think the point was, all items should still remain priced the way they are, and then your total should be rounded up at the checkout, eg. you buy goods to a total of 15,43. (Don't ask me why that was the first total I thought of). You would then have to pay 15,45, because there would no longer be any 1 or 2 cents coins. But there is no way you end up spending more than 4 cents more than your total bill. I'm all for it myself, since this is something I do a lot anyway - I tell the cashier that I don't need the 1 or 2 cents change, because I hate having a purse full of small change.

yeah, that makes sense. I was thinking that he meant on the logistics side it was rounded, but not the consumer side, or something. Thanks.

Bayerns best weißbier? Its certainly a famous number around these parts...

Market forces to protect the consumer?

Ha Ha Ha

Look at the duopoly on food retailing in much of munich.
Even the "six" Munich breweries are now realy only 3 and look how they drive the wholesale price of beer up together.

The current market price of steel makes 1 and 2 cent coins "too expensive" to manufacture. Well, get the ones that are hoarded back into circulation then!
eg Coin collection machines, public campaign (ask Ireland's Central Bank, they had a big one) or even say a charity drive "mile of pennies etc etc.

As so many things become cashless, it does NOT mean that you have to do away with the small coins.

Ok,

Paulaner / Haker-Pschorr
Loewenbraeu / Spaten (Interbrew ?)
Augustiner
Hofbraeu

I get 4, is there another link up I don't know about?

thanks for explaining my rant kathie, im sorry i wasnt so clear.

i speak from experience. i remember very well the same arguments in australia when it was introduced. none of it eventuated. all supermarkets round down the 4 cents in aus. Its a psycological thing. the consumer is getting a pity 1,2,3 or 4 cents, but the sense of getting something for nothing is of greater psycological value.

the other point id like to make is look at the scale of the problem. your talking about loosing a few cents. most people who grumble about it are generally connservative and opposed to change. they then drag out the one argument which sounds reasonable to them. however on examination this point about price inflation doesnt stand up ( see the 4 cents argument)

the teuro problem came about because the europerean union does not have a POWERFUL consumer watchdog body to monitor the practices of retailers. something aus has that other governments should learn from.

perhaps aus could swap this knowledge for knowledge of mass transport systems with germany.

what other countries have switched over to the 5 cent system? Moreover how many were successful? It seems like a pretty straight-forward idea.

At any rate, I feel like I lose more money by neglecting 1 and 2 cent coins than I could possibly lose by a bit of rounding.

I remember when NZ got rid of its 1s and 2s, we used the Swedish Rounding system: prices ending in 8,9,0,1 or 2 become 0, while prices ending in 3,4,5,6, or 7 become 5 ie. 97 cents for an apple only costs 95 cents.

But its no big deal really, you can only lose a maximum of 5 cents! Thats not really very much money, and if it IS important to save that much, you can save even more by looking for a cheaper shop, or not making the purchase at all.

Having said all that, 1s and 2s dont really bother me. When my wallet gets heavy with them I just spend them at my next purchase... No big deal. It only becomes a problem when you DONT spend them regularly and let them build up.

A loss of "only 4 cents" x a population of germany of 85 million would give industry and extra € 3,4 milliona day!

Insustry and government have fucked up, why should the consumer pay?

I agree with doing away with the coins as well... actually I've hated the penny back in the US for a long time. I don't even want them in change and will either tell them not to give it to me or just throw them in the trash (or charity bin if there is one).

And the 1 cent coin here is even more annoying than the penny... I haven't done my first load of laundry yet, but I'm expecting about a euro worth of those darn cents that were hiding in my pockets to be spinning in the dryer when I do

all i can say about this is...

finally...

a country wised up.

Now if theyll only get rid of pennies in the US

Inflation isn’t prices when go up, it’s when central banks create money and inject it into the economy (if you or I did this it would be called forgery ). Inevitably the cost of the lowest denominators becomes less that their base metal value and they are scraped.

You think you get your low mortgage rates for nothing?
10 things you didn’t know about central banks

Switzerland's lowest coin was 5 cents back in 1993 when i worked there. they also round down if the bill ends in 2 cents and round up if it ends in 3. never caused a problem for anyone. Quite frankly i don't understand Grtho's histrionics on this matter.

It still is. A couple of years ago there was some talk of scrapping it but nothing's come of it, at least for the time being.

Good point whitemice, this deserves a new topic all its own, unless I've missed something on TT, there doesn't seem to be much chatter about fiat currencies going on in the world. In the US, I think there are real economic concerns to worry about... so I've read a bit on thedailyreckoning myself over the past twelve, eighteen months...

Hey, who awakened this thread?! It was having a nice little slumber in its grave somewhere, but has now been forced out of bed and is standing naked in the fresh air blinking, trying to work out what's happening. You could have chosen a nicer day to drag it back into the open!

yeah.. like on Jan. 1 when all the stores will use the new 19% VAT tax
as a guise to increase prices... (and the Tax charged on them). Just like they did at the Euro switch over.

Here is an honest money video for the Americans amongst us


Guilty - Followed a link from another thread.

I'm sorry, but you would've figured that the great minds that run the European Union would've done a better job of copying the US when it comes to this kind of stuff.

Get rid of €1 and €2 coins, which is what really screws consumers over when making small purchases, replace them with bills and get rid of €0.02 coins. Problem solved.

Ahh... But the US wants to get rid of $1 Bills too.. They started this a few years ago with the issuing of the $1 Golden coins...

They also want to get rid of the .01 coin as well...

what?!!?! what the hell are you on DK? i have yet to see a $1 golden coin in the US.

perhaps they do exist, but... never seen one or used one.

US $1 coin


How does it screw over consumers?

yes Hutcho, i know they exist. DK read what the mint has to say to me and i read your link, but read your link again,