Royal Australian Mint CEO Ross MacDiarmid has predicted the “graceful death” of 5 and 10 cent coins within the next 10 years. The move would leave the 20-cent coin as the lowest form of circulating currency in that country.
Demand for currency in coin form has dropped by about 55% in the last 5 years, according to MacDiarmid.
“We’ve worked on the basis that somewhere in the next five to 10 years the 5c coin will probably just cease to be used,” he said. “We think that 10c will have a similar trajectory.
“Retailers more than likely would be the ones that would stimulate a decline in the demand for 5c pieces because if you rounded up to 10 [cents] there’s not really much need for a five.”
Rising inflation, coupled with the growth of online and contactless payments, are rendering silver coins obsolete.
MacDiarmid believes the outgoing currency would not be demonetized, meaning shops could still accept them as forms of payment. Citizens could then deposit the coins at banks to receive compensation.
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