Withdrawal of low-denomination coins

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.

The Swiss 1 Rappen coin, last minted in 2006

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 Often coins are withdrawn after their purchasing power has been eroded after decades of inflation.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In some countries, such as New Zealand,^[3] withdrawn coins are declared to be no longer legal tender; in other countries, such as Australia, they remain legal tender indefinitely.^[4]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

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Countries that have withdrawn their lowest-denomination coins include:

Country	Coin(s)	Year of last minting	Withdrawal date	Legal tender?	Notes
Albania	5 qindarka 10 qindarka 20 qindarka 50 qindarka 1 Lek 2 Lekë	1988 1988 1988 1988 2013 1989	1992 1992 1992 1992 N/A 1992	No No No No Yes No	The 1 lek has not been officially withdrawn.
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Argentina	1 centavo 5 centavos 10 centavos 25 centavos 50 centavos	2000 2011 2011 2010 2010	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Armenia	10 luma 20 luma 50 luma 1 dram 3 drams 5 drams	2002	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.
Austria	1 groschen 2 groschen 5 groschen 20 groschen	1950 1991 1992 1954	31 December 2001 31 December 2001 31 December 2001 30 April 1959	No	As of 1 January 2002, with the introduction of the euro, the Austrian Schilling lost its function as a legal currency, but all legal tender coins at the time of the discontinuation of the Schilling are still convertible to Euros indefinitely.
Bahamas	1 cent	2014	2020	No	Production of the one-cent coin ended on 31 January 2020; one-cent coins remained as valid coins for use until 30 December 2020; were accepted for full redemption from the partner banks of the Central Bank of the Bahamas through 30 June 2021.
Bangladesh	1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 poysha	2001	N/A	Yes	Legal tender for amounts not exceeding 50 poysha.
Belgium	1 centime 2 centimes 5 centimes 10 centimes 20 centimes 25 centimes 10 francs	1914 1919 1943 1946 1963 1975 1979	7 May 1953 7 May 1953 1 January 1957 1 January 1957 26 November 1969 4 July 1980 25 June 1985	No	With the introduction of the euro on 1 January 2002, the 50-centime, 1-franc, 5-franc, 20-franc and 50-franc coins ceased to function as legal currencies.
Brazil	1 centavo	2005	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Canada	1 cent	2012	4 February 2013[8]	Yes	Cash transactions with sums ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents are rounded down; those ending in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents are rounded up. Non-cash transactions are still denominated to the cent.
Chile	1 centavo 5 centavos 10 and 50 centavos 1 and 5 pesos	1975 1976 1979 2016	1975 1976 1979 1 November 2017[9]	No	1 and 5 peso coins ceased being produced in 2016, and was no longer legal tender on 1 November 2017; 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.
Cook Islands	1 and 2 cents 5 cents	1983 1994	1993 30 April 2016	No	Production of 1- and 2-cent coins ceased in 1983 and were demonetized in 1993; 5-cent coin demonetized on 30 April 2016, along with previous coin issues.
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	31 December 2022	No	As of 2009, 1 and 2 lipa coins struck only as annual coin sets.[10] With the introduction of the euro on 1 January 2023, the kuna ceased to be a legal tender currency.
Cuba	1 centavo 2 centavos 5 centavos 10 centavos 40 centavos	2020 2010 2020 1961 1998	N/A N/A N/A 13 March 1962 July 2004	Yes Yes Yes No No
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
Finland	1 penni 5 penniä 20 penniä	1979 1990 1990	1979 1990 1990	No	As of 1 January 2002, with the introduction of the euro, it lost its function as a legal currency.
Georgia	1 and 2 tetri	1 January 2021	1 January 2021	No	1 and 2 tetri coins were discontinued as of 1 January 2021 and lost their status as legal tender. According to the new regulations on cash payments introduced by the National Bank of Georgia on 1 January 2019, 1 and 2 tetri are rounded to 0, and 3, 4, 6 and 7 tetri are rounded to 5.
Honduras	1 centavo 2 centavos	1998 1974	1998 1974	No
Hong Kong	1 cent 5 cents	1941 1980	? 1 January 1989	No	Can be exchanged or paid into HSBC banks.
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 aurar 10 and 50 aurar	1985 1990	1 October 2003 1 October 2003	No
India	1 paisa 2 paise 3 paise 5 paise 10 paise 20 paise 25 paise 50 paise	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 rupiah 2 rupiah 5 rupiah 10 rupiah 25 rupiah	? ? ? 1979 1996	? ? 15 November 1996 15 November 1996 31 August 2010	Yes No No No No
Ireland	Halfpenny (decimal)	1986	1 January 1987	No	Irish pound coins were withdrawn in 2002 upon the introduction of the euro.
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.
Italy	1 lira 2 lire 5 lire 10 lire 20 lire	1959 1959 2001 2001 2001	28 February 2002	No	Coins below 1 lira were withdrawn in 1947. 1- and 2-lire coins minted from 1968 for collectors' use only; 5-, 10-, and 20-lire coins fell out of use before the 1990's. All lira-denominated coins were withdrawn in 2002 with the introduction of the euro and exchangeable until 2011.
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 5 yen 50 yen	1892 1919 1892 1945 1892 1946 1911 1948 2016 2022 2022	1953 1953 1953 1953 1953 1953 1953 1953 N/A N/A N/A	No No No No No No No No Yes Yes 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.[14] 1-yen, 5-yen, and 50-yen coins have not been officially withdrawn and are produced in limited quantities for annual coin sets.[15]
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; was minted in limited numbers as part of a new series of coins for general circulation for collectors.
Malaysia	1 sen 1 ringgit	2008 2005	1 April 2008[16] 7 December 2005[17]	Yes No
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.
Netherlands	1⁄2 cent 1 cent 2+1⁄2 cents	1948 1983 1948	1948 1983 1948	No	With the introduction of the euro on 1 January 2002, the 5-cent, 10-cent, 25-cent, 1-guilder, 2+1⁄2-guilder and 5-guilder coins ceased to function as legal currencies.
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.[18]
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 was obliged to redeem 50-øre coins until 2022.[19]
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)	1 and 2 cents	2013 (1 cent) 2011 (2 cents)	July 2015	No	1- and 2-cent coins were withdrawn from circulation from July 2015, and remained legal tender until 30 July 2020.
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.[20]
Panama	Medio Centesimo	1907	1930	No[21]
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[22]	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-centavo coins are not officially withdrawn.
Russia	1, 5, 10 and 50 kopeks	2018[23]	N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Serbia	1 para 5 para 10 para 50 para	1994 1996 1998 2007	1 May 2003[24] 1 May 2003 1 May 2003 1 January 2008	No	Serbian dinar replaced the Yugoslav dinar in 2003.
Singapore	1 cent	2002[25]	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, the Slovak koruna lost its function as a legal currency.
Slovenia	10 and 20 stotinov	2006	31 December 2006	No	As of 1 January 2007, with the introduction of the euro, the Slovenian tolar lost its function as a legal currency.
South Africa	1 and 2 cents 5 cents	2002[26] 2012[27]	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.
Tajikistan	1 and 2 diram 5 diram 25 diram	2011 2019 2006	N/A N/A N/A	Yes	Not officially withdrawn; was minted in limited numbers as part of a new series of coins for general circulation for collectors.
Tanzania	5, 10 and 20 cents 50 cents 1 shilling 5 and 10 shillings 20 shillings	1984 1990 1992 1993 1992	1984 1990 1992 1993 1992	No
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 2 millimes	1990 1983	N/A N/A	Yes Yes	Not officially withdrawn.
Turkey	10 old para (0.25 old kuruş) 1⁄2 old kuruş (0.5 old kuruş) 1 old kuruş 21⁄2 old kuruş 5, 10, 25 and 50 kuruş 1 old lira 21⁄2 old lira 5, 10, 20 and 25 old lira 50 and 100 old lira 500, 1,000 and 2,500 old lira 5,000 old lira 10,000 old lira 25,000 old lira 50,000, 100,000 and 250,000 old lira	1950 1965 1989 1965 1989 1990 1989 1990 1995 1998 2000 2000 2003 2004	1950 1965 1989 1965 1989 1990 1989 1990 1995 1998 1 February 2001 15 December 2001 23 February 2004 31 December 2005	No	Following the redenomination that took effect on 1 January 2005, the old 1,000,000 lira was replaced with a new 1 lira.
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 (₴0.10).[28]
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[29] 1956 1967 1983	1870 1960 1969 31 December 1984	No[2]	Decimal halfpennies can be paid into bank accounts at the 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 sum 5 and 10 sum	1994 2000 2001	1 March 2020 1 March 2020 1 March 2020	No
Vanuatu	1 and 2 vatu	2011	31 March 2011	Yes[30]
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
Zambia	1 and 2 old ngwee 5 and 10 old ngwee 20 old ngwee 25 and 50 old ngwee 1, 5 and 10 old kwacha	1983 1987 1988 1992 1992	1 January 2013	No	Following the redenomination that took effect on 1 January 2013, the old 1,000 kwacha was replaced with a new 1 kwacha.

See also

• Cent (currency)
• Penny
• Legal tender § Demonetization

References

1. "Canada cuts costs by eliminating penny, while US still clings to iconic coin". FoxNews.com. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
2. "1984: Halfpenny coin to meet its maker". BBC. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
3. "History of New Zealand Coinage". Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
4. "RBA Banknotes: Legal Tender". Rba.gov.au.
5. "Save the penny or leave the penny?". cbc.ca. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
6. Lewis, Mark (5 July 2002). "Ban The Penny". Forbes. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
7. Debono, James (10 April 2014). "1c and 2c coins here to stay". Malta Today. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
8. "Phasing out the Penny | Canada's Economic Action Plan". ActionPlan.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
9. "El fin de las monedas de $1 y $5 y la regla de redondeo para el pago de beneficios". ips.gob.cl.
10. "Kovanica 1 lipe, jedna lipa - katalog hrvatskog novca | KUNALIPA". kunalipa.com. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
11. "Say Goodbye to the Smallest Danish Coin, the 25-Øre". CoinNews.net. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
12. "Exchangeable cash withdrawn from circulation". Hungarian National Bank. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
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14. "法律第六十号（昭二八・七・一五）". 衆議院 (in Japanese). 1953-07-15. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
15. Kageyama, Ryo (2024-04-27). "製造は激減、数千分の1になった「1円玉の今」 造幣局に聞いた…それでも続く「普段使いじゃないニーズ」". TBS NEWS DIG (in Japanese). Japan News Network. Archived from the original on 2024-05-12. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
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17. "Times are changing for fake ringgit coins". South China Morning Post. 8 September 2005. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
18. Bogov, Dimitar (26 April 2012). "Decision on Withdrawal from Circulation of Coins in Denomination of 50 Deni" (PDF). Skopje: National Bank of North Macedonia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
19. "50-øre coin withdrawn in 2012". Norges Bank. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
20. "SBP announces ceasing of coins up to 50 paisa". Business Recorder. 2 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
21. Stickney, Brian (2017). A Monetary History of Central America. The American Numismatic Society of New York. p. 312.
22. "MONEDAS DE 5 CÉNTIMOS DEJARÁN DE CIRCULAR DESDE EL 1 DE ENERO DE 2019" (PDF). Central Reserve Bank of Peru (in Spanish). October 31, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
23. "Russia stops minting kopeks". 14 May 2019.
24. "Кованице од 1, 5, 10 и 50 пара избачене из употребе, али не и из цена". Radio Television of Serbia. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
25. Ang, Benson (25 June 2013). "1-cent coin headed for history". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on May 15, 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
26. "One Cent (1c)". South African Mint. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
27. "5c coin to be discontinued". The Times. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
28. "Національний банк упорядковує номінальний ряд банкнот і монет гривні". Національний банк України (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
29. "Fractional Farthings". Royal Mint Museum. Retrieved 10 Dec 2021.
30. "Reserve Bank of Vanuatu statement: 1 and 2 vatu coins" (PDF). Reserve Bank of Vanuatu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2015.