Shrapnel

[MikeG.]

Is anybody else sick and tired of 1p and 2p pieces?

Why on earth do we have these useless bits of bronze, weighing down our pockets?

Australia some years ago removed their 1&2 cent coins.........they still allow shopkeepers to charge whatever prices they like, but when the total is added up, the shopkeeper has to round down to the next 5 cents mark. For example, if your bill came to $5.64, you would actually pay $5.60. The effect has been to have prices rounded to the nearest 5 cents in the first place.

Why don't we do something similar here?

Mike

 

[dennis]

Anyone that is sick and tired of them, could you post them to me please.
Money is money and I will gladly accept any that is going free. I think that if you scrap the smallest value coins, eventually the next coin up becomes the shrapnel.

I suppose this is an indication of a throw away society. Anyway here,s hoping I get lots of shrapnel in the post.

Dennis

 

[DaveL]

Why on earth do we have these useless bits of bronze, weighing down our pockets?

Something I found out a little while ago, they are not bronze any more, they are plated steel, try them with a magnet.

 

[Ironballs]

They are a pain, I agree Mike, we fall into 2 camps in our house, I will ensure I spend all my coins and have a wallet that weighs about half a ton on occasion, Mrs IB on the other hand hates anything below a 50p (and sometimes 50s too) so all the drawers and boxes around the house are littered with shrapnel.

Every now and then I'll gather them up (as I hate mess) and we'll take them to one of those coin converters in the supermarket, 6-12 months of shrapnel never comes to more than 40 quid. Now 40 quid is 40 quid and it's nice when you get it for a jar of bronze, but it's only 40 quid for a years worth of change.

So I don't think it's an example of a throw away society and I would be happy to see the back of them

 

[dennis]

The only reason that I can see for retailers to use a non existent price then round it down is to con people into thinking that they have saved a non existent sum of money.

You might just as well price something as say £1.50 and a rubber egg, but you dont have to give us the rubber egg.

In the fifties we had farthings that were 960 to a pound and didnt complain if we found one.

Dennis

 

[Jenx]

Yes.. the low denomination coins do seem to be a bit superfluous nowadays, thats a good point.

I guess the only 'worry', if you could call it that, is if we were to do away with everything, say under 10p or 20p .. would that possibly give rise to little 'hike' in the cost of living, accross the board ? ...

Not a noticeable thing on one or two small items... but if it were 'totalled up' over everything that you buy in a month, could it perhaps amount to something significant ? .... I'm not sure if it would or not, but that'd be my only worry over losing the 'smush' as we call it ( Shrapnel ).

I don't know if I would be a 'typical' citizen... but I never have cash on me nowadays.. everything is by switch/maestro cards and the likes.

So, assuming the 'CoL Hike' didn't occur... then I can't see a case for keeping the low-value stuff...
Where would you propose the 'cut off' to be.. 10p , 20p ? there may well be a case to put, for 50p ?

Interestingly, I was of the belief that they were still copper.
I didn't know that they were now steel :lol:

 

[Chris By The River]

it's the 5p that I don't like. Smaller than a penny - what's that all about?

 

[dennis]

I agree with Jenx on the possibilities of price hikes, and if you discontinued 1p 2p,s smaller items would increase by at least 5p on every price increase.

As there are charity collection boxes in no short supply, anyone with a dislike for shrapnel can help worthy causes by putting unwanted coins in them.

Dennis

 

[woodbloke]

When SWIMBO came back from her travels last year to the Falklands, she brought with her a very large 4" brass shell casing, suitably engraved. All 'shrapnel' below and including 20p bits now get clinked into into it...save the pennies etc etc :wink: - Rob

 

[BMac]

Two points,

Scrap the 1p and 2p and round down prices in shops. If my memory serves me right when we switched to decimal currency (yes, I am old enough to remember) all the prices seemed to get rounded up and later, when the 1/2p coin was scrapped the prices were rounded up again. If the pennies and two-pences are scrapped that will happen again. But, who cares, it's only a penny - well, shopkeepers and businesses care enough to make sure the difference goes their way.

Shrapnel - I lift £1 to £2 a week outside my local shop and pop it in a charity box inside. Some young people seem genuinely puzzled as to why I would bother and others look at me as if I am some sort of desperate down-and-out because when they drop money they scan the coins and can't be bothered picking up anything less than about 50p. I have watched adults do this too. Money is money and maybe someone in desperation will appreciate their money more than they do.

 

[wizer]

Every night I empty my pockets onto my desk or the side board and when I come back I never pick up the shrapnel, not even the 5p's. They all go in a jar which miraculously never seems to fill up. I suspect wifey uses the 5ps for the car park in the morning :roll:

But my point being, I'd never use them to buy anything.