2018-08-07 Tue

The French Government is considering the idea of scraping small denomination coins as one of the efforts to build a zero-cash economy. France is aiming at building a cashless society like Sweden as per official reports and the short-term plan is to discontinue circulation of 1 and 2 cent coins.

Countries like Belgium, Finland, Ireland, and the Netherlands have already got rid of their smallest denomination coins while the nearest increment is rounded off to five cents. The rounding is applied only for cash transactions and not for digital or electronic payments. Apart from that, the cost of minting these coins is higher than its actual face value.

The 2.3 grams copper-plated steel 1-cent euro coin has a diameter of 16.25 millimetres while the 3.06 grams copper-plated steel 2-cent euro coin has a diameter of 18.75 millimetres. Both these coins are legal tender in the Euro Zone but are not circulated in the above-mentioned countries.

Image Courtesy: European Central Bank