Wexford Euro Coin Project
About ten years ago, to express its unity, Europe introduced a common currency - the euro and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents coins. People have now got fed up with those damn small 2 and 1 cent coins and have decided to be shut of them. To get the project off the ground the authorities have selected Wexford here to try out managing without these two small coins which cost more to produce than they are worth.
Under the trial which starts next week total transaction prices at the till will be rounded to the nearest 5 cent mark. €2.22 will be rounded down to €2.20 and €5.23 will be rounded up to €2.25.
I hope the project succeeds. It will make my pocket so much lighter and I will not have to put on my glasses to know which coins I'm searching for!

On being rid of the penny
Key phrase is "cash transactions," of which there are fewer and fewer. For checks, credit cards, and debit cards, the full amount is due. Amazingly few people actually carry cash at all anymore; debit cards are very big here.
I use mine regularly. Something I buy often costs$3.17. I regularly use pennies to make the cost. Sometimes only 2, sometimes 7, seldom all 17.
I like the penny.
As far as I know they don't take debit or credit cards at drive in windows.
The part of the country live in still functions on a cash economy.
Edited at 2013-09-08 15:47 (UTC)
In the rural area I live in many men are self employed.
They prefer and the tradition is to pay in cash. It is not uncommon for a man to have with him several hundred dollars in cash at any time. $100 bills are common.
My neighbors would resist being cashless.
So as you say, there is likely to be resistance, especially on the part of older people, but retailers like it because banks charge to handle coins and with electronic payments they don't have to worry about cashing up, security and physically carrying money to the bank.
The change is not going to happen overnight, but as people get more comfortable with things like PayPal and direct payments from one bank account to another, often via mobile phone, I can see cash slowly being phased out.
It's funny, at the time I was growing up (1950s and 60s), we looked to America as being much more advanced, almost futuristic. But now the UK and Europe seem to be much quicker to adopt new technologies and America is starting to look old fashioned. Perhaps the habit of tipping means that Americans want to hang on to cash, but over here direct tipping of staff is nothing like so common. We ate out the other night and I paid by card. During the payment process there was the facility to add a gratuity, which I did, choosing the amount I wanted to add. No cash needed at all.
If the tip is on the credit slip some unscrupulous businesses do not give it to the server. If it is on the slip the server has no control over if,how much or when they get the money. Cash is for the server's use immediately.
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В России тоже отделываются от монет достоинством в 1, 5, 10 копеек. Правда пока в частном порядке, округляя цены, примерно до 50 копеек (кратно)