Has the penny had its day?
Has the penny had its day?
"In terms of the coins in your pocket, it's useless"
National Consumer Council 1983 talking about the half penny coin in the 1980's.
Like many of us over a number of years I had accumulated a bag full of Euro denominated coins so last week I took the opportunity of repatriating my bag full of Euro Cents by feeding a number of car park ticket machines along Germany’s Baltic Coast.
As I “fed” the machines with these small strange coins I wondered whether the UK’s “penny” might have also had its day. Just 13 years after 1971’s Decimalisation the National Consumer Council stated that the half (new) penny was “useless” - now some 52 years after Decimalisation do we need to ask whether the one, two, and perhaps even the five pence pieces have also had their day?
Last month a consultation was launched on the Isle of Man (IOM) on whether low value coins should be removed from circulation and how this could lead to the introduction of a rounding system for all cash transactions.
Just 13 years after 1971’s Decimalisation the UK’s National Consumer Council stated that the half (new) penny was “useless” and some 52 years after Decimalisation do we need to ask whether the one, two, and perhaps the five pence pieces have also had their day?
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Podcast: Has the penny had its day?