Britain could ditch 1p and 2p coins — here's why that's a fantastic idea

The government is consulting on scrapping the use of 1p and 2p coins.
This has caused outrage among some of the population, but it makes perfect sense.
Copper coins are rarely used in transactions, are expensive to manufacture, and have little role in an increasingly cashless society.

LONDON — Philip Hammond's Spring Statement earlier this week was — as anyone paying attention had expected — an uneventful and quite frankly dull affair.

Hammond, not known for his bombast at the best of times, didn't announce any new policies, and simply updated the House of Commons on the government's fiscal progress.

There was however, one talking point — the possible removal of Britain's one and two pence coins from circulation.

This wasn't a formal announcement of the withdrawal of pennies and tuppences, merely the start of a consultation on their future.

The news however, sparked outrage among certain sections of Britain. On Wednesday, the Daily Mail ran a front page story asking "Do you REALLY want to kill off the coppers in our pockets Mr. Hammond?" — while a prominent journalist started a campaign under the hashtag

One of the most often cited reasons for opposition to removing coppers from circulation is that it would make receiving change in shops difficult, and could lead to price increases. Say for example you buy something for £2.99, paying with a £5 note. Without the penny it would be physically impossible to get the correct change.

However, there is a clear precedent for managing this change. As many as six European countries, including Finland, the Netherlands, and Belgium, have a so-called "rounding" system in place, whereby change is rounded to the nearest five cents when change is given in a cash transaction.

For one thing, they cost almost as much to make as they're worth, with the Royal Mint having to produce 500 million new 1p and 2p coins each year, despite continually dwindling demand.

"The cost of industry processing and distributing low denomination coins is the same as for high denomination coins, making the cost high relative to face value and utility," the Treasury said in its consultation announcement.

By contrast, bank notes cost only a fraction of their worth to make, with the newest note, the £10 costing only

At a time when Britain's public services are stretched, and debates about extra funding for the NHS and the Armed Forces are at a feverish pitch, why not stop spending money on making new pennies, and push that money into vital services instead.

Societys dependence on cash is declining

As Britain, and the wider world, becomes ever less reliant on cash, surely it would make sense to experiment with removing the smallest, most pointless coins. Canada, Brazil, Sweden, and Australia — all major economies — have already ditched small denominations and don't appear to have suffered any harm.

Cashlessness itself is something of a polarising concept. Some believe that within decades cash will cease to be, with MasterCard's UK and Ireland boss Mark Barnett telling Business Insider in 2016 that

Recent research from the Guardian newspaper showed that "

Removing the penny and the tuppence from circulation would mark a small step in the direction that Britain is clearly already travelling, why stand in the way of progress for the sake of an outmoded and faintly ridiculous idea of tradition.

Britain could ditch 1p and 2p coins — here's why that's a fantastic idea

Societys dependence on cash is declining

Enhance Your Pulse News Experience!

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!