Withdrawal of low-denomination coins
The withdrawal of a country's lowest-denomination coins from circulation (usually a one-cent coin or equivalent) may either be through a decision to remove the coins from circulation, or simply through ceasing minting. This usually occurs after inflation or increased production costs for the coin. The coin being removed usually has a poor seigniorage, which means the coin costs as much i
Overview
The withdrawal of a country's lowest-denomination coins from circulation (usually a one-cent coin or equivalent) may either be through a decision to remove the coins from circulation, or simply through ceasing minting. This usually occurs after inflation or increased production costs for the coin. The coin being removed usually has a poor seigniorage, which means the coin costs as much if not more to produce than it is worth at face value.
Reasons
This withdrawal may be due to the high cost of production, since the coin may be worth less than its cost of production. For example, Canada phased out its penny in 2012 at a production cost of 1.6 cents per penny, and the United States stopped minting its penny for circulation in 2025 at 3.69 cents per penny. Other reasons include low purchasing power and low utility. Often coins are withdrawn after their purchasing power has been eroded after decades of inflation. In Switzerland, the 1 Rappen coin had fallen into disuse by the early 1980s, but was still produced until 2006, albeit in ever decreasing quantities. Conversely, the British Treasury argued for the retention of the decimal halfpenny as late as 1983, on the grounds that its withdrawal would drive up inflation. In some countries, such as New Zealand, withdrawn coins are declared to be no longer legal tender; in other countries, such as Australia, they remain legal tender indefinitely. When the coin in question is no longer minted, cash transactions are rounded, typically through Swedish rounding. Efforts have been made to end the routine use of pennies, and equivalents thereof, in several more countries, including the United States. In the U.S., pennies are no longer produced for circulation but continue to circulate. Businesses are permitted but not required to round cash transactions to the nearest five cents if pennies are unavailable at the time of transaction. Countries in the eurozone have had different responses to the issue; according to James Debono writing for Malta Today, "scrapping the coins is considered unthinkable for Germany where both consumers and retailers are obsessed with precise pricing."
Countries
Countries that have withdrawn or ended production of low-denomination coins, as well as some coins that were not the lowest denomination due to their cost of manufacture, include:
See also
Cent (currency) Penny Legal tender § Demonetization
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