$5 coin?

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The reliably eccentric goofball Pat Martin would like to scrap the nickel, scrap the quarter, re-introduce the 20¢ piece, and seems to be unaware that we do indeed have 50¢ coins.  And oh yeah, talk of a $5 coin again.  I wonder if he was aware we did have a 20¢ coin way back when.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02/03/one-down-one-to-go-after-penny-killed-off-ndp-mp-pat-martin-sets-sights-on-nickel/

I think Martin's idea is an excellent one, and long overdue.

The current size of the 5¢ dates from the 1920s and the 10¢ and 25¢ from the 1870s. They were a suitable size for purchases that actually had some value - a bottle of coke for 5¢, a haircut for 25¢, and your whole lunch bill at the diner for 65¢. That's the economy for which our current coinage system was designed; an economy that no longer exists. Our coinage system is hopelessly outdated.

Now nice it would be if we could once again buy our lunch with a few small coins. That's exactly what Martin is proposing. Inflation has taken 95% of the purchasing power away from coins since they were first designed - so why are they still all the same size?

If we had a system like this:

10¢ - reduce its size slightly
20¢ - make it a little smaller than today's 1¢
50¢ - make it a little smaller than today's 5¢
$1 - make it a little smaller than today's 25¢
$2-  make it a little smaller than today's $1
$5 - make it a little smaller than today's $2

...then we'd once again have a coinage system that is actually useful - the way it was up until the 1960s. I don't remember anyone complaining about coins in the 1950s. People do complain about them now and it's obvious why. They're all far too big for the very small amount of purchasing power that they have.

PS Marc - we don't have a circulation 50¢ coin anymore. It hasn't been produced for years. Unless you count what's produced for the collector market at double face value + HST. I certainly don't.

Interesting article. I can't foresee those wholesale changes. But I agree a revamping is likely due.

Seems like there would be a huge cost to replace everything associated with coins that currently exists - there are a lot of vending machines out there for example.  Also, I really don't understand a 20 cent coin at all - makes no sense to me at all...maybe I'm missing something...

I just don't hear people complain about coins either...other than people who always complain about everything anyway...

The rationale behind the 20¢ coin is because, with no 5¢ coin, the quarter becomes useless.  The one thing that particularly bothers me is a $5 coin.  I don't want such a coin because next thing you know there will be pressure for a $10 coin, and so on.

Remember the "re-launch" of the 50¢ in 2002?  Fell flat on its face.  I could get behind using a half dollar, and sometimes I use them when I want to see what the reaction will be.  Re-denomination may be the only way to go to get folks to use a 50¢ coin.  Otherwise it may be like getting Americans to use their "golden" $1 coins.

And of course there are less and less people using cash.  I know about half a dozen people who wouldn't be caught dead with cash.  It's debit/credit for *everything*.

Also, I really don't understand a 20 cent coin at all - makes no sense to me at all...maybe I'm missing something...

Does a $20 bank note make sense instead of a $25?

Most countries use 20 on their coins and notes. Very few use 25.

It's debit/credit for *everything*.

Don't forget waving the smartphone. I see that often now at the local starbucks.

The rationale behind the 20¢ coin is because, with no 5¢ coin, the quarter becomes useless.  The one thing that particularly bothers me is a $5 coin.  I don't want such a coin because next thing you know there will be pressure for a $10 coin, and so on.

Remember the "re-launch" of the 50¢ in 2002?  Fell flat on its face.  I could get behind using a half dollar, and sometimes I use them when I want to see what the reaction will be.  Re-denomination may be the only way to go to get folks to use a 50¢ coin.  Otherwise it may be like getting Americans to use their "golden" $1 coins.

I'd be happy to see a $5 and $10 coin, but only if they are a proper size. Nobody wants dinner plate sized coins. Think about it - the size of the nickel is enormous compared to its purchasing power. A coin of that size would be suitable for a 50¢ or $1. That leaves wiggle room for a $2, $5, and even a $10 coin that are all smaller than today's toonie. No redenomination is needed; just a resizing of all the coins to properly reflect their purchasing power.

The type of coinage we use is entirely determined by what people & businesses (the market) determine is useful.  Since our vending, phone, parking machines are geared towards our current "silver" I doubt very much that there'll be any more re-jigging (though the nickel may get the boot eventually). 

Really the bottom line is:

... there are less and less people using cash.  I know about half a dozen people who wouldn't be caught dead with cash.  It's debit/credit for *everything*.

and since most vending can now be card activated, coins & even paper are threatened to be discontinued (eventually). 

1 quarter = 2 bits
20 cents = ? ? ?

 

OK, seriously, though, the 20 cent denomination was used as an equivalency to the British Imperial system.  Remember that 1 Pound used to equal 4 crowns and there were 5 shillings in a crown.  The Dollar was pegged as equal to a crown, so 20 cents was equivalent to a shilling.  Are we keen to re-introduce the Imperial system?

Oh, and a $5 coin would be another step backwards, even with a resizing of the entire coin line-up.

If the Bank of Canada wants to save money on printing $5 bills, they should just make the upcoming $10 polymer note in greater quantities and have a perforation strip down the middle of the note that lets you separate it into two smaller notes worth $5 apiece.  A really creative design would make this idea work. 

Whoops, did I kill the chat again? 

Ah well, the $5 coin idea comes up every couple of years, sort of like the idea of getting rid of the penny...

I can't see a $5 coin being a viable option with the inevitable introduction of polymer small-denomination notes.  We really don't know what the circulation life of the plastic $5 note is going to be for a while.

No sure why the rush to issue the $5 coin. I can only think of two countries where the largest circulation coin has the face value over $5. Swiss 5 francs coin has the value of $5.5 and Japanese 500 yen the value of $5.3. Norway and Denmark have 20 kroner coins worth about $3.6. Two pound coins in the UK are worth $3.2, but they are not widely used.

The higher the face value of coins, the larger the risk of counterfeiting. Also, the $5 polymer notes will last much longer than the paper versions.

I'd really like to see 10c-20c-50c-$1-$2 coins like in New Zealand, but we will never see 25c coins replaced with 20c and 50c coins. As impractical as 25c coin may be, the public is used to it, and the costs to adjust vending machines will be very high, should coin sizes or denominations change. Getting rid of the penny was a no-brainer, but any other changes to the coinage will meet public and retail industry resistance.

If the Bank of Canada wants to save money on printing $5 bills, they should just make the upcoming $10 polymer note in greater quantities and have a perforation strip down the middle of the note that lets you separate it into two smaller notes worth $5 apiece.  A really creative design would make this idea work. 

They won't print $10 bills in greater quantities because its demand is in decline (it has been for years, maybe even decades, in fact) and is becoming scarcer.  The most that $10 bills can buy nowadays are fast food meals (McDonald's, A&W, etc.) and items at Starbucks or other coffee shops.  I'd say, in a few years' time, meals at McDonald's will end up costing more than $10 (including taxes), and the number of $10 bills in circulation will eventually tank.  And it won't be long before our beautiful purple banknote ends up going the way of the half-dollar.  Plus the majority of people, I think, that use $10 bills are teenagers or children who receive allowances and will spend them on fast food or coffee shop items.  $10 bills are more of an allowance bill for now, it seems.

Seriously, what's the point of putting greater quantities of $10 bills in circulation when really they will become redundant in the future?

Of course, the $5 bill is losing demand as of lately, so maybe we are heading into an era where vending machine items may end up costing more than $2, and the day will come that a $5 coin may be introduced.  Plus I have a feeling that the upcoming new $5 bill will probably continue with printer letter H, which I think is likely the highest printer letter for the CBN prefixes, and when the printer letter H nears the end of the run, we may then see a need for a $5 coin.