I think what they need to look at next is resizing the coins left in circulation. They’re all way too big now and weigh your pockets down.
They need to resize them, as they did in New Zealand. In 2004 they got rid of teh 2 cent coin and made the existing 50, 20 and 10 cent coins smaller and used plated steel to make them lighter.
In Aiustralia, the 10 cent piece should be just smaller than a 5 cent piece is now, increasing slightly for 20 and 50 cents. But more importantly they need to make the $1 coin smaller than a $2 coin.
I don’t know whether I’d go as far as saying that Coles & Woolworths rounding their prices up/down to the nearest dollar is the end of the 5 cent coin. Personally, I just think it makes sense to say that something is “$5” rather than “$4.99” especially when we haven’t had 1c and 2c coins in circulation for over a quarter of a century now.
But I think we will probably see the end of 5c coins sometime within the next decade or so, especially when it’s starting to cost the Royal Australian Mint more to produce 5c coins than they’re actually worth.
I think they’ve said that was already the case and they put it to the federal government in 2016 that it should consider axing it.
The video mentions that they are producing the lowest number of those coins now with 58.2m produced in 2014 which was down from 145.3m produced in 2004.
Good news - hopefully they dont get dropped in DJ’s. Much more aligned with DJ’s than Myer. Marcs make good stuff and while fairly smart/everyday it is much better than those fast-fashion stores which dish crap (h&m , topman etc).
Was with you until here. The $2 coin is the best coin - and about the only way you could make the $1 smaller is to make the $2 larger, like they are in NZ - which would suck.
I’m not saying keep the $1 coin and make the $2 biggee. The $1 coin would need to shrink and the $2 coin would be bigger and they would keep in mind that $5 coin will evebtually be needed so keep that size for the biggest.
So there might be somd confusion initially but it mighg mean these coins will need to be a gold/silver combo like the euro and two pound coins.
If something was $2.99 it will now be $3. The cynic in me also sees those extra 1c in every purchase going to the supermarket chain with most people using their cards to purchase groceries.
Coles has axed checkout staff holding up I’m Free signs after complaints from staff and customers of staff being subjected to sexual harassment.
[quote]Coles employee Emily Henderson wrote on Facebook that she was horrified by comments customers had made in response to the signs.
“The comments have been horrible … we have had it from BOTH (sic) male and female, old and young.”
People are used to the current coins, so why cause confusion?
I won’t be surprised when they stop producing the 5c coin & withdraw it from circulation, then the 10c, etc.
Australia is one of the top users of plastic to pay so cash will go entirely before the federal politicans face the negative publicity of forcing all sorts of businesses to update coin machines to recognise new coinage.
There’s just no real benefit to changing coins’ sizes & weights now.
20 years…I don’t know, but assuming you’re right then coins will still be used much less and I’d guess several of the denominations will have gone.
Anyway how much fraud is there with coinage? To get any substantial amount of money it’d be heavy and there are easier/more lucrative criminal opportunites for those so inclined.
While I agree that our use for physical cash will slowly decline, I’m not quite sure that all coins and notes disappear within 20 years especially when we’re currently in the process of rolling out new/redesigned bank notes.
I also kind of agree with JBar’s earlier theory about the possibility of a $5 coin in the future (Afterall, we did used to have $1 and $2 notes before they became coins in the 1980s!) but aside from that and retiring the 5c piece, I wouldn’t expect any further changes Australia’s currency.
On the other hand, many businesses would save money in the longer term, by being able to collect larger amounts of money between collections, such as in a vending machine or parking meter.
A one off cost would reduce recurring costs, so for most would be a net positive.
Where is the saving from? (And “many businesses”, really?)
Collecting coins is expensive and a reason card payment appeals to machine owners, as does reducing the theft incentive (for anyone tempted to steal the cash from the machines).
And how many of those machines don’t already accept cards now?
If you’re looking at long-term, and there was a substantial fraud issue, the currency would need to be updated again (as it has been from time to time, albeit rarely).
