5.
-
Against these criticisms it might be observed that the coinage comparos very favourably with many others in current use, the denominations being within a convenient range of size and easily distinguishable from one another.
Notwithstanding
(ii), there is also a reasonable margin between the cost and face value of all the denominations except only the 5 cents.
18. The point about the lack of a 1 cent coin really concerns the value of the Dollar unit and is outside the scope of this paper. However, it may be worth noting that faced with a similar but more severe problem in 1960, the French raised the value of their franc by a factor of a 100. The existing coins remained in circulation as "old francs" while new coins in the "new franc" notation were gradually introduced alongside them. The change took a very long time to be assimilated and some prices continued to be quoted in old francs for many years.
19. If the above criticisms are considered valid the main questions for consideration are whether to embark on a radical alteration of the whole system, involving the withdrawal of most if not all the existing coins, or to try to confine the changes to those that would bring worthwhile benefits without involving total withdrawal. Other main questions are where to strike a balance between the cost of the coinage and its quality and appearance, and how to assess the extent to which changes in size and appearance might be acceptable to the public generally.
20.
Solutions of three main types may be worth considering:-
(i) To reduce the weights of the 5,10 and perhaps 50 cent coins without changing their diameters, and to introduce a shaped
$5 coin.
The weights of the 5 and 10 cents might be reduced to 1.9 and 3.6 grammes respectively and that of the 50 cents to 5.6 grammes.
Resulting reductions in edge thickness would be about 20% in the two smaller coins and about 4% in the 50 cents. The savings per million on new coins supplied would
be of the following order:-
5 cents £
950
10 cents
50 cents
£
1300
£
250
Apart from these savings the advantages of this approach are that it would cause minimum disturbance to the public and might require little or no change to vending and coin sorting machines. The new coins could circulate clongside the old and
no withdrawal programme would be necessary.
A mejor disadvantage would be the impossibility for banks and others to check the value of a bag of new and old coins by
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