Withdrawal of low-denomination coins

The Swiss 1 Rappen coin, last minted in 2006

The withdrawal of a country's lowest-denomination coins from circulation (usually a one-cent coin or equivalent) may either be through a decision to remove the coins from circulation, or through simply ceasing minting.

Reasons

This withdrawal may be due to the high cost of production, since the coin may be worth less than its cost of production. For example, when Canada phased out its penny in 2012, its production cost was 1.6 cents per penny.^[1] Other reasons include low purchasing power and low utility. Often coins are withdrawn after their purchasing power has been eroded after decades of inflation. In Switzerland, the 1 Rappen coin had fallen into disuse by the early 1980s, but was still produced until 2006, albeit in ever decreasing quantities. Conversely, the British Treasury department initially argued for the retention of the decimal halfpenny, on the grounds that its withdrawal would drive up inflation.^[2]

In some countries, such as New Zealand,^[3] withdrawn coins are declared to be no longer legal tender; in other countries, such as Australia, they remain legal tender indefinitely.^[4]

When the coin in question is no longer minted, prices are rounded, typically through Swedish rounding.^[5]

Efforts have been made to end the routine use of pennies in several more countries, including the United States.^[6] Countries in the Eurozone have had different responses to the issue; according to James Debono writing for Malta Today, "scrapping the coins is considered unthinkable for Germany where both consumers and retailers are obsessed with precise pricing."^[7]

Countries

Countries that have withdrawn their lowest-denomination coins include:

Country	Coin(s)	Year of last minting	Withdrawal date	Legal tender?	Notes
Argentina	1 centavo	2001	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn
Australia	1 and 2 cents	1991	1 February 1992	Yes	Legal tender for amounts not exceeding 20 cents[4]; can be paid into bank accounts but sometimes refused
Belgium	1 and 2 euro cent	N/A	2014	Yes	Remain in use at some retailers; Coins are still struck for annual coin sets[8]
Brazil	1 centavo	2005	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn
Canada	1 cent	2012	4 February 2013[9]	Yes
Croatia	1 and 2 lipa	2012	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn; since 2009, coins struck only as annual coin sets[10]
Czech Republic	10 and 20 haléřů 50 haléřů	N/A	31 October 2003 31 August 2008	No
Denmark	1 and 2 øre 5 and 10 øre 25 øre	1973 1989 2008	1 April 1973 1 July 1989 1 October 2008	No[11]	Exchangeable at Danmarks Nationalbank for 3 years after withdrawal - now treated as scrap metal
Fiji	1 and 2 cents	2005	13 November 2008	No
Finland	1 and 2 euro cent	N/A	2002	Yes	Only a few were minted; coins are still struck for annual coin sets[12]
Hong Kong	1 cent 5 cents	1941 1980	? 1 January 1989	No	Can be exchanged or paid into HSBC bank
Hungary	2 and 5 filler 10 and 20 filler 50 filler 1 and 2 forint	1992 1996 1999 2008	30 September 1992 30 September 1996 30 September 1999 1 March 2008	No	Were exchangeable at the Hungarian National Bank until 31 December 1993. Were exchangeable at the Hungarian National Bank until 31 December 1997. Were exchangeable at the Hungarian National Bank until 30 September 2000. Were exchangeable at the Hungarian National Bank for five years from the date of withdrawal[13]
Ireland	1 and 2 euro cent	N/A	28 October 2015	Yes	Rounding is optional for consumers[14][15]
Israel	1 agora 5 agorot	1991 2006	1 April 1991 1 January 2008	No	Exchangeable at the Bank of Israel and commercial banks until 31 December 2010[16]
Italy	1 and 2 euro cent	N/A	1 January 2018	Yes	Coins are still struck for annual coin sets
Malaysia	1 ringgit 1 sen	2004 2008	7 December 2005 1 April 2008[17]	Yes
Netherlands	1 and 2 euro cent	N/A	1 September 2004	Yes	Rounding is optional for retailers[18]
New Zealand	1 and 2 cents 5 cent coin	1987 2004	30 April 1990 1 November 2006	No[3]	Exchangeable at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (but amounts over $5 must be paid into a New Zealand bank)
Norway	1 and 2 øre 5 øre 10 øre 50 øre	1972 1982 1992 2012	1993 1 May 2012	No	Norges Bank is obliged to redeem 50-øre coins until 2022[19]
Papua New Guinea	1 and 2 toea	2006	19 April 2007	No
Russia	1 and 5 kopeks	2014	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn
Singapore	1 cent	2002[20]	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn
South Africa	1 and 2 cents 5 cents	2002[21] 2012[22]	1 April 2002 1 April 2012	Yes
Sweden	1 and 2 öre 5 öre and 25 öre 10 öre 50 öre	1971 1984 1991 2009	30 June 1972 30 June 1985 30 September 1992 30 September 2010	No	Payable into bank accounts for several months after withdrawal - now treated as scrap metal
Switzerland	1 Rappen 2 Rappen	2006 1974	1 January 2007 1978	No	Exchangeable at the Swiss National Bank for 20 years after withdrawal
Trinidad and Tobago	1 cent	2014	2018	No	Production ceased in 2014 and lost its validity in 2018; exchangeable at the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago
United Kingdom	​1⁄2 penny	1983	31 December 1984	No[2]	Can be paid into bank accounts at discretion of commercial banks; cannot be exchanged by general public at the Royal Mint although private companies exist which can do so
United States of America	​1⁄2 cent	1857	21 February 1857	No
Uruguay	10 and 20 centésimos 50 centésimos	1994 2008	2005 1 July 2010	No
Vanuatu	1 and 2 vatu	2011	31 March 2011	Yes[23]

See also

• Cent (currency)
• Penny

References