UKC

Why do we still have copper coins in circulation, surely they are redundant now, Id happily be rid of 5p and 10p coins too.

In reply to Pesda potato:

How else would you be able to get your Granny gambling at Christmas?

In reply to balmybaldwin:

well get her drunk first helps

In reply to Pesda potato:

they've done this in Finland. Where Afaik they still have decimals on items in the shop 1.99 etc. But they just round up or down to the nearest 5. Seemed to work fine when I was there. Bring it on.

In reply to Pesda potato:

Bloody annoying things.

They should definitely get rid of coppers. Don't serve any purpose

In reply to Pesda potato:

They haven't been copper since 1992.
The only time I really use cash is in pubs and in small shops where they don't accept cards for £5 or less, so in theory, I would tend to agree with you.
However, if they scrapped the lower value coinage, prices would have to go up or down and I'm guessing that suppliers/shops aren't going to reduce their prices...
So, if they scrapped 5p and 10p's as well, you could end up with a 19p mark up on some items. Additionally, any price rises due to inflation, etc. would have to be in 20p increments.

In reply to Pesda potato:
Clearly none of you lot go to church!* Coppers are for putting in the collection plate**.



*I don't either
**Based on 30 yr old memories when a penny could buy you a jelly snake

In reply to Pesda potato:

I've been wondering about the erm.. comparative value of the new 1/2 p coin from 1972

'cos as 11 year olds we thought they were so worthless that we would throw one to attract someones attention

and not pick it back up

In reply to FactorXXX:


People who use cards to pay in pubs anger me more than is reasonably justifiable!

If said person is also ordering drinks.. one... at..a..time... I even go as far as wishing biblical plagues upon them.


Nothing to say about small change, carry on.

In reply to Kemics:


and Sweden. Nothing below 1kr now, roughly 8/9pence. Far simpler at vending machines for people using them and manufacturers, less hassle and time for shop staff when counting up, less expense producing anything taking coins.. there are no negatives as far as I can see.

In reply to Steve nevers:


Don't go drinking in Stockholm then, people in the Nordics don't generally buy rounds, apart from the cost it's just not the done thing. So you often get a group of 5 or 6 buying and paying individually by card, what's funny is they then eat a meal and it's divided equally without fuss.

In reply to summo:

Obviously the use for small change is to throw at these f*ckers then.





NB: I don't actually mean that.

In reply to Pesda potato:

I seem to remember this is a debate which keeps going in the US where, with no 2 cent piece, they are drowning in pennies. (And with only 4 coins below a dollar, drowning in change generally.)

I'm sure they worked out that it was costing more in time to handle the pennies than they were worth.

In reply to Steve nevers:


Wouldn't matter if you threw anvils, they wouldn't get it, most are born without any sense of urgency. The bonus is if you've served your drinking apprenticeship in the UK, fighting through bars 3 deep to get served, getting served is a peice of cake, they are amateurs by comparison.

In reply to summo:


A friend of mine worked in the Netherlands for a while. If he went out drinking with colleagues, one would pay and then send round an itemised email the next day with who owed what!

Come to think of it, I might try that the next time someone shirks their round...

In reply to Pesda potato:
Wouldn't it result in a huge inflationary move to the economy? Rounding up from 1p or 2p to 5p is a big jump in % terms.

I say rounding up because human nature being what it, people will round up rather than down.

But I'm not an economist....

In reply to Pesda potato:
I's say start off scrapping the 1p then see how that goes before maybe getting rid of the 2p.
If not getting rid of all copper coins I'd like to see them made smaller at least. Perhaps make the 2p a touch bigger than the 5p.

In reply to Pesda potato:
I'm actually sitting here counting at a massive jar of copper and silver at the moment. I actually find it quite relaxing and absorbing....


£67.03

In reply to Pesda potato:

I remember as a kid going on holiday some shops would give you a few sweets to cover the difference if they didn't have the coins available,I'm sure it was turkey but don't quote me on that.never had a problem with change when I lived in Scandinavia because everything was so bloody expensive.

In reply to Pesda potato:


For hammering into money trees with a stone?

In reply to Pesda potato:

if you put them near a magnet you'll find they are mostly steel. Don't carry them with your compass! The ones not attracted have more copper and were reported to be worth more than their face value.

I was wondering if the 1p coin is at present the lowest value coin, in terms of spending power, we have ever had.

In reply to Kemics:
Someone should start one of those change.org petitions to get rid on 1p + 2p's.....

I haven't got the time to invest in this solution at present.......

In reply to wercat:

When we teach kids about alloys in chemistry I tell the students that coppers minted before 1986 (iirc) were copper rather than steel-cored and we check everyone's change with a magnet.
I worked out the value once based on the price per ton for copper and old one pence coins are worth about 1.7p. This assumes they are pure copper but I suspect they aren't.

In reply to angry pirate:

When we teach kids about alloys in chemistry I tell the students that coppers minted before 1986 (iirc) were copper rather than steel-cored and we check everyone's change with a magnet.

1992

In reply to Pesda potato:


Steady! Steady! Do you want a riot!
Decimal currency was introduced back in 1971.
Yet in Pesda ( Bethesda), it was still pounds shillings and pence in the Douglas Arms , until recently.

Getting rid of shillings and florins? Preposterous!

I must scratch a letter on my slate, and send it to the editor of the Bangor and Anglesey Mail the morrow morn...

In reply to llechwedd:

No 'coppers' here in Australia now. If paying by cash everything is rounded to the nearest 5c.

Back in the US, a lot of places would have a 'penny jar'; you could dump any pennies in there, and when paying you can dib in and take a few to round your payment up to a sensible number. Pricing is a pain in the US because the advertised price in shops does not include GST (the equivalent of VAT).

In reply to Pesda potato:

Better post on this thread, as the copycats are vanishing...

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=brewing+copper&espv=1&tbm=isch&am...

In reply to Pesda potato:

is it that bad? I've a had a few nights out on the run due to friends' birthdays and the like and ended with a wallet full of change (the first sign of drunkenness being an inability to pay in coins, obviously) and simply counted out the pennies at my next shopping bill.

that aside, I'd imagine what would happen is everything would round up a few pence....no wait, I mean 15-20 pence... due to the "government outlaws pennies" freak out.

In reply to llechwedd:

Sadly no longer they have caught up with the times. Usually a good selection of drinks there fair play to them

In reply to Pesda potato:
Yeah, f**k da po-lice!

In reply to Pesda potato:


Do they still have the "Snooker Plus" table, though, with the additional orange and purple balls?

In reply to Rob Naylor:

dunno if the different coloured balls are there, Im pretty sure the table is but it scares me the size of the thing