[Oshkalaboomboom]

I live in Spain and pay exact change all the time. Belgium is the first time I have run into this. How long before they outlaw currency altogether? Using Covid as an excuse most outlets prefer cards, preferably contactless. Coming soon to a country near you :-(

[hinckley buzzard]

IDK about Belgium, but I hear Walmart is taking litecoin now.

[Wayne07]

There have been repeated calls to ban the penny in the US as well.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/business/coin-shortage-penny.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2020/07/14/890435359/is-it-time-to-kill-the-penny

[I want the USA back]

Well then prices should be quoted already rounded to the nearest .05.

[Red Badger]

Same thing in America due to ‘Coin shortage’. ..............

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

Up here in Kanadahar (Canada), they got rid of the penny almost ten years ago. Your final total for a bill (including sales tax) is rounded to the nearest five cents, IF YOU ARE PAYING BY CASH. If you are paying any other way, you pay the bill amount.

[Cronos]

Your vanity article makes no sense

1. “So we are in Brussels, capital of the European Union” —> the European Union isn’t a country and doesn’t have a capital.
there are 4 institutional centers:
Brussels: Commission, Council of Ministers, European Council, Parliament (2nd location)
Frankfurt: Central Bank
Luxembourg City: Civil service of the European Parliament, Council of Ministers (2nd location), Court of Justice of the European Union, Court of Auditors, Commission (various departments and services)
Strasbourg: Parliament

2. “and presumably the inventors of the Euro.” —> they weren’t. The proposer of the Euro was a Luxembourgian.
THEN, the French thought that tying the Germans in the Euro with them and others would prevent any German super-power, hence it was a condition of German unification to create the Euro

3. “Apparently they have outlawed pennies” —> Those are cents, not pennies :)

4. “ So the driving force behind the Euro currency now refuses to take their own money. Gotta love bureaucracy!” —> the Belgians weren’t the driving force behind the Euro. Also, the government hasn’t banned it - Belgium doesn’t have enough 1 and 2 cent pieces.

[outofsalt]

"Coming soon to a country near you :-("

You will need two ID's for cash and a COVID passport!

[Oatka]

How long before they outlaw currency altogether?

All Central Banks are eyeing a digital currency after seeing Bitcoin's success. The acronym is CBDC - Central Bank Digital Currency. They hate competition, so all commercial versions will be banned.

It's a control freak's dream - all transactions are digital, and thus can be tracked - and controlled. They will use "prevent money laundering" as one excuse. Or "Catch tax cheaters". Or . . . the ever popular "It's for your safety."

There's already at least one outfit saying our credit score should also reflect our standing in Social Media.

Once the public accepts it, Game On! Anti-government posts? Banned by Twitter, Facebook, et al? Limited access or "no soup for you".

Refuse vaccination or other government mandates? See above.

Any sign of independence? See above.

Just for the Hell of it? See above.

[Cobra64]

In the US, it costs more than a penny to make a penny. As far as I am concerned, eliminate the penny, since it’s purchasing power ain’t worth anything.

[Swordmaker]

There is only one thing in our daily lives that we still buy priced in mills, an old common coinage from the seventeenth century. It’s an oddity of custom and tradition, but for some reason, we still do it. I wonder if we will be doing that for pennies in the future, long after the actual coins are no longer produced or even accounted in the totals, rounding to eliminate the antique coins?

[Carriage Hill]

Offer them a $52,000 Bitcoin, and ask if they can make change... heh.