British plot to drop ‘pointless’ copper pennies and tuppences
As coppers fill jars instead of tills, one community edges closer to scrapping them, reports
Coppers are expensive to mint, weigh down a wallet and can rarely be used to buy anything in the shop. They end up in a jar on the mantelpiece, waiting to be exchanged for a crisp £20 note at the bank.
Despite this, attempts to get rid of smallest denomination coins have caused outrage. When coin designs featuring natural imagery from the British Isles were unveiled last year, the Royal Mint said it expected all of the coins to enter circulation by the end of 2024, including 1p and 2p.
But a corner of the British Isles has come closer to scrapping the coins – and is working to phase them out. Last year the Isle of Man, which mints its own currency, held a consultation on whether it should keep coppers. The public’s response to the Manx government’s survey was “no thanks”.
The Manx government decided instead to encourage “cash rounding”, to the nearest five or zero, thereby eliminating the need for coppers – although they are still legal tender.
Cash rounding, first used in Sweden in the 1970s, has since been adopted by Canada, New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland. Dr Alex Allinson, the Isle of Man’s treasury minister, says that while the respondents cited inflation as a key concern, research from other countries suggested it would not be a problem.
“Most of the businesses didn’t think it would cause significant inflation. But the public perception is that it would,” he says. The minister adds that there were worries about British tourists being unable to use the coppers – and that the coins from the UK would have to be separated and sent back. Allinson says: “If the UK were to [get rid of coppers], we would probably follow suit. We’re not going to withdraw the coins, [but] we have loads of them. So we are not going to mint anymore. There will, I think, come a time when people might run out. So we’ve asked businesses to look at voluntary rounding up.
“Part of it is the overall move towards a cashless society. Part of it is just the economics – that to make a 1p coin now costs more than a 1p coin is worth.
“Even the 5p pieces, we calculate now that each one is about 20p. It is getting more and more expensive to produce currency. We’ve also got significant quantities in storage in various banks, which has an extra cost,” Allinson explains.
The island, which has the Manx pound but also accepts British coinage, has not minted new coppers since 2016. The coins are part of the island’s identity, and are collectors’ items, featuring the Manx cat, historical buildings and a 50p that depicts motorcyclists in the annual TT race.
Many young people on the island, which has a population of just 84,000, don’t carry cash at all, relying entirely on cards – as is commonplace across urban areas in the UK.
Spencer Benham, who runs The Book Company in the centre of the capital, Douglas, says: “I’ve even seen some kids, if they get pennies in their change, they just walk down the street and throw them on the floor. They don’t even see it as money, just a burden in their pocket,” he said.
Benham says that he thought the concerns about inflation were wrong, because businesses would prefer to round down prices, in order to be more competitive.
“If anything, they are not going to round up, they are going to round down to 95p. I think the five pence piece will become the new penny.”
A waitress in a café said she thought the coins were “pointless”, something that Mark Kneen, of Hydro Hotel on the promenade, agreed with.
The prices at the hotel’s Mexican restaurant have already been rounded to the nearest five pence. Kneen says that while tourists enjoy collecting the
‘It’s all crooked, isn’t it, and they all like to track everybody’
coins, most would choose to pay by card, and that he doesn’t personally understand the obsession.
But public opinion remains divided. Businesses said that 30pc of islanders still pay in cash, mainly older people. Andy Gibbs, owner of pub Jaks and Frank Matcham’s, explains that the island has been forced to adapt to card payments during the pandemic.
“It really is everyone, even the oldest. It’s just easy, especially with Apple Pay and things like that,” he says.
There are a couple of places on the island that are card-only, but Gibbs says it is something he was considering, as the machines are easier for his staff. He says he has informally employed cash rounding for decades.
“I’ve been here 33 years, and 33 years ago you went into a pub and you’d pay £1.01 a pint. But we didn’t do that, we did £1, or £1.05, £1.10. We didn’t use twos and zeros.”
Gibbs adds: “If they do get rid of low-value coins all the banks on the Isle will be inundated with everyone clearing their piggy bank out.”
But other islanders say that if more businesses stop accepting cash, they won’t be able to use them. “If they get rid of small coins it will push up the price of everything.” Sandra Brennan, 78, says: “There’s a lot of places now that prefer cards.” She feels pressured to use cards or to give her email to get receipts in shops.
Brennan adds: “I hated it when they took the cheque books away. I used to use the cheque and the stub and now my kids look at me like, ‘Mother, will you come into this world?’ I say: ‘No, I am staying in my world, you come into my world.’”
She says: “They’re wanting to get rid of the small coins. It will just put the price of everything up again.
“You’ve got to keep your Manx coins. I save £2 coins – I start every January to December, and it’s my Christmas money for the grandchildren,” Brennan added.
One fishmonger, who refused to be named, said the government should keep cash because “it’s all crooked, isn’t it, and they all like to track everybody”.