Re: OT: coins (Was: Types of numerals)

Quoting Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>:

> Hi!
>
> Nik Taylor <yonjuuni@...> writes:
> > One really has to wonder what the EU was thinking setting the Euro at
> > a value that made .01 so nearly worthless.  They should've set it at
> > about 5 times that value, so that a 1-cent piece would've been more
> > worthwhile.
>
> I didn't understand it either.  Finland eliminated the 1ct and 2ct
> coins quite immediately and if I had been King of Europe, I would
> probably have done the same for my whole empire and would have
> additionally defined 20 newEUR := 1 oldEUR (meaning, of course, 1
> newEUR = 5 oldCents) so that no cents would have been needed anymore.
> I don't like two units for one type of thing too much.
I don't know why the particular value for 1€ was picked, but the reason for the
1c and 2c coins is that Greece and Portugal demanded them. Pre-euroification,
they had even smaller coins in circulation, and felt that suddenly having 5c as
the smallest denomination would be too disruptive for retailers.

Personally, I'd made the euro worth about 10c (roughly the value of 1 SEK) and
skipped any subdivision - the Greeks and Portuguese be damned!


I usually end up spending my small change on coffee et sim., which makes for
some symmetry, since paying for drinks with notes is a main source for them. I
usually make all bigger purchases (5€+) with a debit card.

                                              Andreas

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