http://www.eurotracer.net/news/shownews.php?nid=120

The introduction of such low value notes http://coinpeople.com/index.php?showtopic=4578 is highly unlikely. As for the suggestion of those MEPs ... oh well. The issuing and circulation of €1 and €2 banknotes would have a positive impact on inflation? We have had a very low inflation rate these past few years; prices recently went up primarily due to increased energy cost. Issuing rag euros is "all the more necessary in view of the forthcoming introduction of the single currency in the new Member States"? The current coins/notes threshold varies widely from country to country.

But it seems that I won't have to deal with low value euro notes anyway. The ECB, and Commissioner Almunia, said that they will not be issued.

Christian

Low denom notes are simply not the way to go.

I never understand the significance of wanting to issue low denomination notes, this happens a lot in third world nations even where the currency has a low exchange value anyway, they will issue notes worth say 1¢ etc.

In focus were the 1¢ notes issued in Hong Kong, they cited the cost of making a coin, but then printing 1¢ notes over and over again surely outweighed the cost of making a 1¢ coin.

This is my thinking entirely. Notes will never last as long as coins. Whilst notes are cheaper to produce, the fact that you've got to replace them much sooner means you're spending more in the long run.

A €1 coin could last 50-60 years easily, although often the figures you see quoted are for around 25 years per coin.

How many €1 notes would you run through in that time period? They'd last two years top, one year on average.


The reason coins are produced every year is to replace older issues lost and destroyed, to cover inflation and expanding populations. With notes it's those factors plus torn, ragged and notes that have met an unfortunate end in a washing machine. With coins you can produce ample amount for circulation and then have two years without producing any with no real problems, with notes you can't stop, if you do there'll be a shortage.

They say £5 notes only last a year or two in circulation on average...

I'd replace all notes with coins.

Here in the USA we still have 5¢ coins in circulation that have been around since the late 1930's that is nearly 70 years. About once or twice a week I get a nickle that is over 50 years old.

In Britain in 1970 they still had pennies in circulation from the 1860s. If it hadn't been for decimalisation they'd probably still be in circulation now.

I am not so sure something would be circulating from the 1860's now, but I would imagine the 1936's would be very very common in circulation. I have literally hundreds of that one date in my hoard.

Some of the current and future euro countries did/do have such low denomination notes too. Maybe not that extremely low though ... Guess that if you're used to coins being almost "worthless" (to some extent that was true in Greece and Italy), you may run into problems if, with a new currency, the coins/notes threshold suddenly is much higher.

But even if one looks at the six EU countries that recently joined the Euro Exchange Rate Mechanism, that "threshold" varies widely: The largest circulation coin in ...
... Estonia: 1 kroon (€0.06) - there are 5 krooni coins but I don't know how common those are
... Lithuania: 5 litas (€1.45)
... Slovenia: 50 tolarjev (€0.20)
... Latvia: 2 lati (€2.85)
... Malta: 1 lira (€2.33)
... Cyprus: 50 cents (€0.87)

Christian

I can only speak from my experience in Tallinn. Many of the larger grocery and department stores in the city center do price there items with the fractional amounts. In smaller boutiques and places such as restaurants and cafes, most everything is priced to a round kroon so fractionals are seldom seen there. The only coins that are normally seen are the 10 and 20 sentti and 1 krooni. The 50 sentti is less common and the 5 sentti does not circulate any more. The lowest denomination note that is used there is the 2 krooni and that is commonly received.

When I visit the eurozone, I find the most problem is with the low denomination coins. This perhaps because in Sweden we have only 50ore, 1kr, 5kr and 10kr coins. The 50ore is a little higher than the 5eurocent and is kept I think mostly because the shops want to be able to use this fraction currency in setting prices.
The 10kr coin is about 1 euro (a little higher), and the lowest banknote, 20kr a little more than the 2 euro coin.
About having a 1 euro and 2 euro banknote I stand totaly neutral.
A country that uses regularly some coins and banknotes with same denominations is China. It would be nice to hear some views from anybody living there about this, but I guess nobody in this forum lives there,or? It would be nice to hear if there are other countries that has the same (regular coins and banknotes of same denomination).
// Joakim

Hmmmmmmmmmm. My best guess is that there are fears that unnecessary inflation could occur because of the "rounding" effect.

Another possibilty would be that, if there are customs such as "bribing" or tip, and if you have to tip a lot more than you have to, that will hurt. Well isn't that a good reason why US half dollars and dollar coins don't get much chance to circulate compared to the dollar bill?

Regardless of how people would argue how coins are more cost effective over notes, recent trends start to be quite worrying. In Japan, 500 yen (around 4.2USD) coin has been counterfeited thrice in major scale. In neighbouring China, 1 yuan or 12 cents(!!!) has been found in circulation. Even in Malaysia, the 1 ringgit coin (26 cents!) that has been circulating over a period of time (1971? I think to 2005) had to be reverted back to the paper bill. If such low denomination coins could be counterfeited at a mass lot, imagine the heaven of 1 pound or 2 euro coins.

Counterfeit £1 coins are quite common in Britain, they very from the crude to the quite deceptive. I have one that was cast in lead then plated. The edge is the real giveaway.

As for coins and notes with the same value, that varies widely too. In pre-euro Germany, for example, we had 5 mark coins and 5 mark notes (worth €2.56). The former were far more widely used than the latter. Austria had 20 schilling coins and 20 schilling notes (worth €1.45), and there the notes were more popular ...

In my opinion, if we were to get €1 and €2 notes, we should also get €5 circulation coins. But I suppose that none of this will happen in the near future.

As for low-denomination (1c and 2c) coins, I agree, they are a pain in the neck. Finland does not actually use them, and hardly anybody in the Netherlands does. I wish the rest of Euroland would follow soon. Don't see that happen either though.

Christian