They’re not worth anything, never were but even less through the years with inflation.
If a store wants to sell something for 99 cent, they can either just take 1€ or 95 cent.
Maybe even 5 cent pieces? But that would be a bit radical.
I am a bit annoyed that easy ideas like this are never discussed in politics, or wherever. It would make our lives just a little bit easier, and having them achieves NOTHING.
what happens if you pay 5 Cents with 5x1 cent from other countries in those countries?
I don’t know but I guess they still would have to accept them since they are still official currency.
I used to live in Finland for two years. The shop close by to my home wouldn’t accept 1 or 2 cents so I just put them in a drawer and never worried about it again. Don’t know if they are obliged to accept them.
I’m from Italy, most machines that take cash straight up don’t accept 1 and 2 cent coins and 500€ notes anymore, they’ll just spit them out. I don’t think I’ve ever paid a cashier with those, so I don’t know what the policy is, but I think they are allowed to refuse them. It’s still legal tender so banks will take them; I have a big jar at home where I collect all the small cents, I plan to take it to a bank once it’s full and see what I can buy with it (stonks). I can tell you that if you make an electronic payment you will pay the exact price, but if you’re paying in cash it will be rounded to the nearest .05.
Machines here in Austria also often don’t take 1/2ct and €500.
Finland: Price totals are rounded to 5 cents at the checkout but the smaller money is valid and you can generally use them, unless a shop specifically informs that they don’t accept them.