1 and 2 cent coins: the money nobody wants to count

1 and 2 cent coins: nobody wants them, everyone hoards them

Are 1 and 2 cent coins good for anything? The question may seem trivial, but it hides a real economic problem: a handful of legal tender that weighs down your wallet, that shopkeepers accept grudgingly and that most people end up accumulating in jars, tins and drawers without really knowing what to do with it. Copper small change has become a household waste product nobody knows how to recycle.

The Banco de España accepts exchanges of up to 1,000 coins as long as they are sorted by denomination, with the exception of 1 to 20 cent coins, which can be handed in mixed because a machine sorts them. If there are fewer than 200 of the rest (50 cents, 1 euro and 2 euros), they are also accepted unsorted. It is the only free and universal channel that exists in Spain for getting rid of loose change.

Coin machines: 10% fees and vouchers instead of cash

The most widespread alternative is the self-service machines that some large stores install to count and exchange small change. The problem is the price: the fee is around 10% and the exchange is not paid out in cash, but in a voucher to spend in the same store. In other words, the user pays to get rid of their own money and is then tied to shopping there. Some argue the percentage is acceptable because time is worth more, while others call it an outright rip-off.

The traditional banking route still works, but with friction. Several banks require coins to be placed in standardised plastic bags before accepting them, which turns the operation into a whole afternoon of manual labour. Others count them and deposit them into your account free of charge. The experience varies so much from branch to branch that there is no uniform standard.

The Dutch case: mandatory rounding and coins that aren't valid

In the Netherlands, 1 and 2 cent coins are not legal tender. Prices are rounded to multiples of 5 cents: 1 and 2 down, 3 and 4 up. One traveller recounts that at a supermarket he tried to pay 10.03 euros with a 10 euro note and two cent coins, and staff ran after him demanding a 5 cent coin or the return of the purchase. The anecdote shows just how strictly the rule is enforced, even though the end result is the retailer giving up on collecting a tiny amount.

The creative route: scales, piggy banks and strategic payments

Among the most commonly repeated home methods is using the coins to make up exact payments: if something costs 1.12 euros, you hand over a one euro coin and six 2 cent coins. That way you empty your purse without accumulating more. Others keep them in a piggy bank for years and take them to the bank when the container is full, with results of around 40 euros per piggy bank, of which barely 5 or 6 euros are 5 cent coins and 1 or 2 euros are the 1 and 2 cent ones.

Some calculate the exact weight to make kilo scales: 4.35 euros in 1 cent coins, 6.54 in 2 cent and 12.76 in 5 cent coins, giving 23.65 euros for three kilos of small change. And some simply throw them in the bin, figuring that paying two cents to avoid the nuisance is a reasonable price.

The fine paid in coins: when the law is on your side

One of the most frequently cited episodes is that of an 80 euro parking fine, reduced by 50% for early payment, which the offender decided to pay entirely in 1 and 2 cent coins. Staff at the collections office spent more than half an hour counting and even refused to accept them. The citizen replied that it was legal tender, that it was all he had, and that either they drew up a notarial record or they dropped the fine on a technicality. The standoff was resolved in his favour.

The future: card, rounding or endless hoarding

The most radical solution that comes up in the conversation is to always pay by card. Another is to hope that retailers eventually absorb the cost, as happens in countries that have already eliminated the smallest coins. Meanwhile, small change keeps circulating out of inertia, piling up in drawers and jars, waiting for someone to decide it is no longer worth minting. The question is not whether it will disappear, but how many jars it will take for us to realise it.