Withdrawal of low-denomination coins

The Swiss 1 Rappen coin, last minted in 2006

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.

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, when Canada phased out its penny in 2012, its production cost was 1.6 cents per penny.^[1] 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 Often coins are withdrawn after their purchasing power has been eroded after decades of inflation.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 department initially argued for the retention of the decimal halfpenny, on the grounds that its withdrawal would drive up inflation.^[2]

In some countries, such as New Zealand,^[3] withdrawn coins are declared to be no longer legal tender; in other countries, such as Australia, they remain legal tender indefinitely.^[4]

When the coin in question is no longer minted, cash transactions are rounded, typically through Swedish rounding.^[5]

Efforts have been made to end the routine use of pennies, and equivalents thereof, in several more countries, including the United States.^[6] 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."^[7]

Countries[]

Countries that have withdrawn their lowest-denomination coins include:

Country	Coin(s)	Year of last minting	Withdrawal date	Legal tender?	Notes
Algeria	1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 centimes 1⁄4 and 1⁄2 dinars	1980s 2000	1980s 2000	No
Argentina	1 centavo 5 centavos 10 centavos 25 centavos 50 centavos	2000 2011 2011 2010 2010	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Australia	1 and 2 cents	1991	1 February 1992	Yes	Legal tender for amounts not exceeding 20 cents;^[4] can be paid into bank accounts but sometimes refused.
Bahamas	1 cent	2014	2020	Yes	Production of the one cent coin ended on January 31, 2020; one cent coins remained as valid coins for use until December 30, 2020; will be accepted for full redemption from the partner banks of the Central Bank of the Bahamas through June 30, 2021.
Bangladesh	1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 poysha	2001	N/A	Yes	Legal tender for amounts not exceeding 50 poysha.
Brazil	1 centavo	2005	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Canada	1 cent	2012	4 February 2013^[8]	Yes	Non-cash transactions are still denominated to the cent.
Chile	1 and 5 pesos	2016	1 November 2017^[9]	No	Amounts are rounded to the nearest 10 pesos.
China	1 fen 2 and 5 fen 2 jiao	2018 2000 1986	N/A N/A 1 July 2000	Yes Yes No	1, 2 and 5 fen coins are not officially withdrawn. Amounts are rounded to the nearest 1 jiao (0.1 yuan or 10 fen).
Colombia	1 centavo 5 centavos 10 centavos 20 centavos 50 centavos 1 peso 2 pesos 5 pesos 10 pesos 20 pesos	1978 1979 1980 1979 1982 1981 1988 1993 1994 2008	1978 1979 1980 1979 1982 1981 1988 1993 1994 2008	No	Amounts are rounded to the nearest 50 pesos.
Costa Rica	5 céntimos 10 céntimos 25 céntimos 50 céntimos 1 colón 2 colones 5 colones 20 colones	1979 1982 1989 1990 1998 1984 2016 1996	1979 1982 1989 1990 1998 1984 2016 1996	No
Croatia	1 and 2 lipa	2012	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn; since 2009, coins struck only as annual coin sets.^[10]
Czech Republic	10 and 20 haléřů 50 haléřů	2003 2008	31 October 2003 31 August 2008	No
Denmark	1 and 2 øre 5 and 10 øre 25 øre	1973 1989 2008	1 April 1973 1 July 1989 1 October 2008	No^[11]	Exchangeable at Danmarks Nationalbank for 3 years after withdrawal - now treated as scrap metal.
Dominican Republic	1 and 5 centavos 10 and 25 centavos 1⁄2 peso	1989 1991 1990	1989 1991 1990	No
Egypt	5, 10 and 20 piastres	2008	2008	No
Fiji	1 and 2 cents	2005	13 November 2008	No
Hong Kong	1 cent 5 cents	1941 1980	? 1 January 1989	No	Can be exchanged or paid into HSBC bank.
Hungary	2 and 5 filler 10 and 20 filler 50 filler 1 and 2 forint	1992 1996 1999 2008	30 September 1992 30 September 1996 30 September 1999 1 March 2008	No	2- and 5-filler coins were exchangeable at the Hungarian National Bank until 31 December 1993. 10- and 20-filler coins were exchangeable until 31 December 1997. 50-filler coins were exchangeable until 30 September 2000. 1- and 2-forint coins were exchangeable for five years from the date of withdrawal.^[12]
Iceland	5, 10 and 50 aurar	?	1 October 2003	No
India	1 paisa 2 paisa 3 paisa 5 paisa 10 paisa 20 paisa 25 paisa 50 paisa	1981 1979 1971 1994 1998 1997 2002 2016	30 June 2011 30 June 2011 30 June 2011 30 June 2011 30 June 2011 30 June 2011 30 June 2011 N/A	No No No No No No No Yes	On 30 June 2011, all coins in denominations of 25 paisa and below were officially demonetised.^[13]
Indonesia	1 and 5 rupiah 2 rupiah 10 rupiah 25 rupiah	? ? 1979 1996	? 15 November 1996 15 November 1996 31 August 2010	No
Ireland	Halfpenny (decimal)	1986	1 January 1987	No
Israel	1 agora 5 agorot	1990 2007	1 April 1991 1 January 2008	No	Exchangeable at the Bank of Israel and commercial banks for 3 years from withdrawal. Amounts are rounded to the nearest 10 agorot.
Jamaica	1 cent 5 cents 10 cents 20 cents 25 cents 50 cents	2012 1994 2012 1990 2012 1990	15 February 2018 1994 15 February 2018 1990 15 February 2018 1990	No
Japan	1 rin 5 rin 1⁄2 sen 1 sen 2 sen 5 and 10 sen 20 sen 50 sen 1 yen	1892 1919 1892 1945 1892 1946 1911 1948 2016	1953 1953 1953 1953 1953 1953 1953 1953 N/A	No No No No No No No No Yes	All rin and sen coins were eventually demonetized at the end of 1953 when the Japanese government passed a law abolishing subsidiary coinage in favor of the yen. 1 yen coin have not been officially withdrawn and are produced in limited quantities for annual coin sets.
Kazakhstan	2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 tiyin	2001	31 December 2012	No
Kenya	5 cents 10 cents 25 cents 50 cents	1991 1994 1973 2009	31 December 2011 31 December 2011 31 December 2011 N/A	No No No Yes
Kyrgyzstan	1 tyiyn	N/A	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Malaysia	1 sen	2008	1 April 2008^[14]	Yes
Mexico	5 centavos	2002	2002	Yes	Not officially withdrawn, minting of coin ceased.
Moldova	1 ban	2017	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn, only the production of the coins was stopped.
Mongolia	1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 50 möngö	1981	1992	No
Morocco	1 santim 5 santimat	2001 2010	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
New Zealand	1 and 2 cents 5 cents	1987 2004	30 April 1990 1 November 2006	No^[3]	Exchangeable at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, but amounts over $5 must be paid into a New Zealand bank.
Nigeria	1⁄2, 1, 5, 10 and 25 kobo	2007	28 February 2007	No	1⁄2 to 25 kobo coins were withdrawn from circulation with effect from 28 February 2007.
North Macedonia	50 deni	1993	1 January 2013	No	Exchangeable at banks from 1 January to 31 March 2013; exchangeable only at the National Bank of North Macedonia thereafter.^[15]
Norway	1 and 2 øre 5 øre 10 øre 25 øre 50 øre	1972 1982 1992 1985 2012	1975 1985 1993 1985 1 May 2012	No	Norges Bank is obliged to redeem 50-øre coins until 2022.^[16]
Pakistan	1 paisa 2 paisa 5, 10, 25 and 50 paisa	1979 1976 1996	1 October 2014 1 October 2014 1 October 2014	No	On 1 October 2014, all coins in denominations of 50 paisa and below were officially demonetised.^[17]
Panama	Medio Centesimo	1940	1940	No
Papua New Guinea	1 and 2 toea	2006	19 April 2007	No
Peru	1 céntimo 5 céntimos	2011 2018	1 May 2011 1 January 2019^[18]	Yes
Philippines	1⁄2 centavo 10 centavos 20 centavos 50 centavos 2 pesos	1908 2017 1945 1994 1994	1908 N/A 1945 1998 1998	No Yes No No No	10 centavos coin are not officially withdrawn.
Russia	1 and 5 kopeks 10 and 50 kopeks	2014 2015	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Serbia	1 para 5 para 10 para 50 para	1994 1996 1998 2007	1 May 2003^[19] 1 May 2003 1 May 2003 1 January 2008	No
Singapore	1 cent	2002^[20]	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Slovakia	10 and 20 halierov	2003	31 December 2003	No	As of 1 January 2009, with the introduction of the euro, it lost its function as a legal currency.
South Africa	1 and 2 cents 5 cents	2002^[21] 2012^[22]	1 April 2002 1 April 2012	Yes
South Korea	1 and 5 won	1991	N/A	Yes	1 and 5 won coins have not been officially withdrawn and are produced in limited quantities for the Bank of Korea's official annual coin sets since 1992. Amounts are rounded to the nearest 10 won.
Sweden	1 and 2 öre 5 and 25 öre 10 öre 50 öre	1971 1984 1991 2009	30 June 1972 30 June 1985 30 September 1992 30 September 2010	No	Payable into bank accounts for several months after withdrawal - now treated as scrap metal.
Switzerland	1 Rappen 2 Rappen	2006 1974	1 January 2007 1978	No	Exchangeable at the Swiss National Bank for 20 years after withdrawal.
Taiwan	10 and 20 cents 50 cents	1981 2004	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Thailand	1, 5 and 10 satang	N/A	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn, Used only in transactions between domestic banks.
Trinidad and Tobago	1 cent	2014	2018	No	Production ceased in 2014 and lost its validity in 2018; exchangeable at the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.
Tunisia	1 millime 5 millimes	1960 2005	N/A N/A	Yes Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Ukraine	1 kopiyka 2 kopiyky 5 kopiyok 25 kopiyok	2016 2014 2015 2016	1 October 2019 1 October 2019 1 October 2019 1 October 2020	No	Exchangeable for 3 years after withdrawal. Amounts are rounded to the nearest 10 kopiyok (0.1 hryvnia).^[23]
United Arab Emirates	1 fils 5 fils 10 fils	2005 2014 2018	N/A N/A N/A	Yes Yes Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
United Kingdom	Half farthing (1⁄8 d) farthing (1⁄4 d) ha'penny (1⁄2 d, 1⁄480 £) 1⁄2 penny, 1⁄200 £)	1856^[24] 1956 1967 1983	1870 1960 1969 31 December 1984	No^[2]	Decimal halfpennies can be paid into bank accounts at discretion of commercial banks; cannot be exchanged by the general public at the Royal Mint although private companies exist which can do so.
United States	1⁄2 cent	1857	21 February 1857	Yes	All US coinage, pursuant to the Coinage Act of 1965, is legal tender for any amount.
Uruguay	10 and 20 centésimos 50 centésimos	1994 2008	2005 1 July 2010	No
Uzbekistan	1, 3, 5, 10, 20 and 50 tiyin 1 soʻm 5 and 10 soʻm	1994 2000 2001	1 March 2020 1 March 2020 1 March 2020	No
Vanuatu	1 and 2 vatu	2011	31 March 2011	Yes^[25]
Vietnam	200 đồng 500 đồng 1,000 đồng 2,000 đồng 5,000 đồng	2003 2004 2003 2004 2003	April 2011 April 2011 April 2011 April 2011 April 2011	Yes