Change for the Better

Apparently it costs the US government 1.8 cents to make each 1 cent coin. Which is nuts, when you consider that a penny is pretty much worthless.

I have no idea how much it costs our government to mint the 1p and 2p coins, but I wouldn’t mind betting it takes a loss on each one.

Why do we still have copper coins? You can’t buy anything with them and they just fill your pockets up needlessly.

It would be far better if we got rid of the 1p and 2p pieces and priced everything to the nearest 5p. No-one would miss them. And it wouldn’t necessarily put prices up, as I can’t see retailers moving their £9.99 price point up to £10 – they’d be more likely to go down to £9.95.

New Zealand got rid of their coppers in the 1980s, and went so far as to abolish the 5 cent coin 5 years ago. They now make change with just a 10, 20 and 50 cent coin.

It’s time we followed suit. So let’s make a change for the better and say goodbye to our copper coins.