EuroBillTracker

Well, as I wrote, we used to have 1 Pf coins (worth about half a cent) in Germany, even until the very end of the DM cash. As I'm close to NL, I know how well the rounding works and would not miss the 1 and 2 ct coins. But in DE most people apparently love dealing with them.

Christian

androl wrote:the tradition to use tiny coins is somehow inappropriate, considering that there is no tradition in small prices

the "tradition" is to show prices like 1,99 instead of 2
the power of marketing

Kleman wrote: the "tradition" is to show prices like 1,99 instead of 2
the power of marketing

An American tradition

ravestorm wrote:An American tradition

As well as in various other countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologi ... al_origins
Even worse, gas prices end in tenths of a cent, ie. 1.214 or 1.329 ...

Christian

Here in Portugal we have no problems getting 1c or 2c.
But i'm stil looking for:
1c Italy
1c Finland
1c and 5c Austria
1c and 2c Greece
1c, 2c and 5c Luxembourg

tabbs wrote:

ravestorm wrote:An American tradition

As well as in various other countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologi ... al_origins
Even worse, gas prices end in tenths of a cent, ie. 1.214 or 1.329 ...

Christian

http://www.shoppingcar.it/ycbin/stampa. ... _ANN=22283

In my area some supermarkets tried to round prices to the closest 5 cent, but people dislike it a lot, so nobody rounds because nobody wants lost the clients

Hmm, I don't quite get this ... In Italy there is (AFAIK) no legal framework that would allow stores to round up, so any place that wants to round the totals would have to round down. Now why would people avoid such a great place?

Christian

Update -- Remember that last year the European Parliament suggested doing away with the 1 and 2 cent coins? Well, the European Commission has now made a proposal, or rather four alternatives, about how to deal with low denominations in the future.

14/05/2013 Commission outlines options for future of 1 and 2 euro cent coins
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-425_en.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

14/05/2013 Issues related to the continued issuance of the 1 and 2 euro cent coins
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-418_en.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The four options, in brief: Continue the status quo, issue them at reduced costs (e.g. different material), quick withdrawal (actively take them out of cirulation), fading them out (the current ones would "disappear" as they do now, and no new ones would be made). In the last two cases, rounding rules would apply (pretty much what is currently used in FI and NL anyway): Cash totals would be rounded to x.y0 or x.y5, whatever is closest.

Christian

Why must the costs for producing the coins be below the face value? Isn't this only the point of view of the governments who sell the "selfmade" coins to the eurosystem?
For the economy, the production of the coins is always a loss.

1bn coins of 1 cent worth 10m euro are minted by the mints, the mints are paid 16m euro by the governments, they sell the coins to the eurosystem. The coins are used, become used and are eventually trashed by the eurosystem in exchange of new coins.
The governments lose 6 million €, the ECB loses 10 million € (minus the scrap value of 2300 tons of steel/copper mixture)

androl wrote:Why must the costs for producing the coins be below the face value?

Don't know whether it always has to be, but it does make sense to me. Why did, for example, the German government stop issuing the €10 silver coins at face value when their silver value exceeded (or was about to exceed) the face value?

Anyway, I just find the 1c and 2c coins to be annoying. And I am in NL often enough to know how wonderful life can be without them. But I also realize that in DE doing away with them is hardly an option. After all, that country had 1 Pf coins, worth half a cent, until the very end of the DM cash. Many of them "disappeared" though, just as the low denominations today, once customers got them in their change.

Then there is the old story that the euro makes everything so much more expensive ("perceived inflation"), and that may be another reason why people in some member states object to such rounding rules. Never mind they work fine in Switzerland, Australia, and the Scandinavian countries ...

Christian

Belgian minister of finance is preparing a law for dropping the 1 land 2 cents.....

^Dropping, as in, "you're no longer allowed to use them"? I don't understand how a single country could go forward with that. A rounding law is one thing, making it illegal to use the coins in question is quite another.

If Belgium will do what is done in Finland and the Netherlands, you could theoretically continue to use those low denomination coins. After all, they are and will be legal tender. But this legal tender concept applies to debt only - a store may well have a sign, next to the cashier's desk or so, saying that they do not accept 0.01 and 0.02 pieces. (Many places do not accept €200 and €500 notes either.)

Another option is to still accept the small pieces - but if cash totals are rounded anyway, they are not really needed. This way a traveler from some country where they are still in use could use them in BE to make a payment, but pretty much everybody else would not use them. The effect would be about the same: Fewer 1 and 2 cent are minted, thus lower production cost, and considerably fewer of those pesky annoying pieces in circulation.

Christian