Head-to -Head
Should small coins be eliminated?
Das britische Währungssystem basiert auf dem Penny, doch hat man davon zu viele im Portemonnaie, kann das lästig sein. Und sollte man Kleingeld angesichts des Trends zum bargeldlosen Bezahlen nicht überhaupt abschaffen? JULIAN EARWAKER gibt das Pro und Contra wieder.
YES “Demand for these coins has declined dramatically” Sarah Coles
The idea of getting rid of coppers was suggested last year, but after a short public backlash, the government was quick to reassure people that their 1p and 2p coins are here to stay. Beyond our nostalgic attachment to the coins, however, there are very good reasons to stop producing them.
There comes a point with every coin when it costs more to produce and distribute than it’s worth, and demand for coppers has declined dramatically, as people increasingly use debit cards and contactless payments for low-value spending. Cash was used for 7.2 billion transactions of under £1 in 2006, and just four billion in 2016. Meanwhile, shops are using rounded pricing to save the inconvenience of handling low-value coins. Eliminating small change saves taxpayers money. In Canada, the decision to stop producing the penny saved an estimated Can$ 11 million (€7.3 million) a year.
Supporters of coppers might argue that scrapping them will cause inflation. This was a popular argument before the halfpenny went at the end of 1984, but the Bank of England calculated that it had no impact at all on inflation. In Canada, pennies were removed from circulation as they were returned to the banks. They remain legal currency, which means there have been no changes to prices. When people pay by card or digitally, they pay the exact price of each item. When they pay by cash, the total cost is rounded. This has a marginal impact: a 2p increase in price on £40 of shopping is nothing compared to a 2p increase on each individual item. Bank of England researchers looked into whether rounding to the nearest 5p would work in the UK and decided that, on average, rounding up and down will leave people no better or worse off. In some cases, large retailers will always round down, which means prices will fall rather than rise.
The 1p now has less buying power than the halfpenny had when it was withdrawn in 1984. The Bank of England has found that 60 per cent of 1p and 2p coins are used in a transaction only once. Some eight per cent of those leaving circulation are thrown away. History shows that sometimes we need to present an argument several times over a number of years until people get used to the idea. There will be plenty of opportunity to argue about the value of coppers before anything is actually done.
NO “The penny has been around since the late eighth century” Phil Mussell
There is no logical or economic reason to get rid of the 1p or 2p coin. Other countries that have got rid of their small coins, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, did so because those coins were not economically viable. In the case of the current British 1p and 2p, the Royal Mint assures us that they are not costing more to produce than they are worth. The only argument for getting rid of them is that they’re a bit inconvenient.
The penny has been around since the time of Offa, King of Mercia, in the late eighth century. To lose it would be a great shame. For 1,200 to 1,300 years, pennies have been the basic currency of this country. Five pence, ten pence, 20 pence, 50 pence. Not half a pound, or half a dollar, as Americans would say.
Culturally and linguistically, we have expressions such as “spending a penny”, “a penny for your thoughts” and all those other wonderful idioms. It’s not a question of hanging on to history for the sake of it. Charities will suffer if we scrap small change — there’s no doubt about that. Charity boxes in service stations and newsagents will lose out. If we get rid of the pennies and twos, doubtless, the fives will go as well, and the charities will again lose out.
Then there is the aspect of inflation, because people will quite probably ignore official rounding systems. There are no guarantees. Getting rid of the 1p and 2p will push prices up. If you get rid of the penny, then things will no longer be priced at 99 pence; they will simply be one pound and everyone will round up.
It’s disgusting that young people in particular throw away small change. Give it to charity instead. Why throw money away? If they don’t want them, refuse them at the till or give them to the next person in line. Throwing them away is reprehensible. The problem is that the younger generation is now used to cashless payments. So, when they do have cash on them, the smaller the cash, the more annoying it is. There is a very vocal segment in society that would like to move to cashless, to get rid of cash entirely. Certainly, the social-media generation aren’t using cash like they used to. There’s nothing wrong with that, but to put that on the rest of the population and say, “Well, no one should be using cash”, is rather disturbing.