By Laura Gray, BBC News
Uzbekistan’s one-tiyin coin, a 100th of a som
This month the Canadian mint stopped distributing the penny, or one-cent piece, as it costs more to make than it is worth. It’s far from being the lowest-value coin around, however. Some central banks are clinging on to coins that are truly “small change”.
There are many precedents for scrapping small coins. The US abolished the half-cent in 1857 and the UK’s halfpenny was withdrawn in 1984. New Zealand and Australia abandoned the one-cent and two-cent coin in the 1990s.
Now some campaigners in the US and UK want the penny to be scrapped, because nothing can be bought with a one-cent or one-penny coin.
“The point of currency is to facilitate cash transactions. It used to be that a penny could serve that purpose because it was worth… Read the rest at BBC
Small change |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Smallest coin | How many = 1 US cent | How many = 1 UK penny |
| Uzbekistan | 1 Tiyin | 1,999 | 3,038 |
| Burma | 1 Pya | 855 | 1,300 |
| Tanzania | 5 Cent | 325 | 494 |
| North Korea | 1 Chon | 132 | 201 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 Cent | 126 | 192 |
| Jamaica | 1 Cent | 92 | 140 |
| Bangladesh | 1 Paisa | 79 | 120 |
| Guinea | 1 Centime | 70 | 106 |
| Madagascar | 2 Iraimbilanja | 55 | 84 |
| Philippines | 1 Centavo | 41 | 62 |
| Armenia | 10 Luma | 41 | 62 |
In practice, however, while these coins are legal tender, you would struggle to find them in everyday life.
Categories: Canada
and which one is the most costly one?