War on Coins: European Commission Proposes 1, 2 cent phase out as German Official Balks

Saving pocket change may not end the euro zone crisis, but the European Commission hopes that scrapping the smallest coins could help penny-pinching governments cut costs.

The European Commission outlined proposals this week for the 17 euro zone countries to scrap their 1 and 2 cent coins, leaving 5-cent pieces as the smallest in circulation.

The Commission says the cost of making the coins has exceeded their face value for the past 11 years, effectively costing member states 1.4 billion euros ($1.8 billion).

More than 45 billion of the 1 and 2 cent coins have been minted since the euro entered circulation in 2002, but many are now buried behind sofas, lost in back pockets or left on the street rather than making their way to cash registers.

While scrapping them all together may appear to make sense, some consumers worry that rounding prices up to the nearest 5 cents will prove inflationary. On the other hand, rounding prices down to the nearest 5 cents might be beneficial.

The euro 1 and 2 coins are two-toned. The “gold” is an alloy, 75% copper, 20% zinc and 5% nickel. The “silver” is cupronickel, 75% copper, 25% nickel. The 10, 20 and 50-cent coins are a proprietary alloy known as “Nordic gold”, consisting of 89% copper, 5% aluminium, 5% zinc and 1% tin. The 1, 2 and 5-cent coins are copper-coated steel fourrées. The copper alloys make the coinage antimicrobial.

In the German population, the desire to hold on to the coinage. Personally, I can only agree with that.