this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2024
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Just FYI you can look up stuff like this at no cost. It's not even close to being true. A Canadian polymer banknote costs about 20 cents to manufacture and the smallest denomination is $5. Coins cost a few cents to make (even $2 ones). It's just the penny that lost so much of its value over time that it costs more to make than its worth.
Looks like you’re right about bills. That surprised me in the US though — they use some special hemp-based paper, and they weave in anti counterfeit strips etc etc. but they claim it only costs six cents or so per note.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12771.htm
In the US it costs more to make a five cent piece than it is worth. I don’t hear people complaining about getting rid of nickels though. Costs of other coins are climbing as well.
https://money.com/coin-costs-us-mint-solutions/
Coins last a lot longer than paper bills, so the extra cost might be worth it. The US has repeatedly tried dollar coins, but the idiots at the mint keep making them look and feel too much like quarters.
Of course the design costs add in as well, and the mint here keeps redesigning the quarter every year. So if we really wanted to save money, we would stop that nonsense.
As an American I’m down to even go as low as removing dimes and switching $1, $2, and $5 to coins. That puts us at similar currency value for the coin-bill swap as the yen and when I used it it felt about right
Other countries will start removing 5 cent coins in a few decades too (I'm guessing 30-50 years) . It's only natural when low but positive inflation is targeted by every modern economy.
There are loose plans to do that here in Canada long before that, but nothing solid right now. My guess is they are going to have to move from rounding to the nickel to rounding to the dime and pricing and taxes will have to follow. From when I was a kid a penny and a nickel are worth 1/5th of what they were in purchasing power.