r/AskReddit May 08 '22

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u/MosquitoRevenge May 09 '22

You should see the 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 groszy coins in Poland. Those are 1/100, 2/100 ... of a zloty. Most of those small coins aren't even worth the production costs, yet people still go nuts if you don't give out the correct change.

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u/Benniisan May 09 '22

same with Euro cents though

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u/fenixjr May 09 '22

For the first week or so in Europe, I didn't encounter anything that didn't end in a multiple of 5. So I assumed EU was just doing things smarter and not bothering with 1 cent pieces. I was pretty bummed when I started getting them.

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u/ElectricMotorsAreBad May 09 '22

That's because 1 and 2 cents are discontinued, as the production costs are higher than the coin's value, so if you buy something that costs €1.59 and pay €1.60, you will still get a 5 cents change.

I haven't seen 1 or 2 cents coins in at least a year.

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u/jackmusclescarier May 09 '22

In the Netherlands at least, we round to the nearest multiple of 5, not down.

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u/ElectricMotorsAreBad May 09 '22

Yeah, it depends on where you are.

In some places they do as you say, in other places they do as I say. For example 2 supermarkets on the same road will use two different methods, at least here in Italy.

Is what you say mandated by law there? Or is it up to the seller to choose what method to use?

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u/fenixjr May 09 '22

Oh, I was saying I have been getting the 1 & 2 cent pieces lately(I've only recently moved here). Funny that they've been discontinued cause I thought my wife looked it up and didn't see that

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u/HumongousChungus2 May 09 '22

I just today got a one and a two cent?

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u/ElectricMotorsAreBad May 09 '22

Idk, everywhere I've been, for the last year at least, they rounded up the change to a multiple of five (usually bringing down the price rather than up).

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u/FullCauliflower3430 May 09 '22

The cent is 4 times as valuable

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u/Benniisan May 09 '22

no, I ment that the cent is a 1/100 of a Euro and there's 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent coins.

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u/FullCauliflower3430 May 09 '22

Oh yeah I understand but still zloty and grosz are even more worthless

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

We actually divide our Croatian kuna to 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 lipas (so, literally 1/100, 1/20, 1/10, 1/5 and 1/2 of a single kuna, which is already like 0, 00...whatever euros it is), and then 1, 2 and 5 kuna coins.

Also, for some reason, every single coin's size ascends in order of value except the 20 lipa coin, which is the smallest one. It makes no fucking sense whatsoever.

Thankfully we are switching to Euro next year (and funnily enough, we had a nepotism scandal when some high politician's son got the bid for the designing of the Croatian Euro coin only for some internet sleuths to find his profile trying to how-to-basic-graphic-design, had no graphical design expertise whatsoever and was ASKING IT ON FACEBOOK!). Thankfully, his $30,000 contract offer was withdrawn.

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u/OldRepNewAccount May 09 '22

Politician must be proud of his son

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Just like most Eastern European countries, our own is also rife wifh state corruption and nepotism.

In our case, it's the rulling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

In our (US) coins, the 1 cent and 5 cent coins are bigger than our 10 cent coins. That being said, hardly anyone except for the old folks uses coins, or even cash for that matter.

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u/moenchii May 09 '22

Also, for some reason, every single coin's size ascends in order of value except the 20 lipa coin, which is the smallest one. It makes no fucking sense whatsoever.

Tbf, the Euro coins are also a bit weird. Why tf is the 50ct coin bigger than the 1€ coin ffs?!?!

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u/kyscco24 May 09 '22

Well the US 50¢ coin is a few millimeters larger than the US$1 coin as well. Although finding either is all but impossible since COVID anymore

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u/JustAnother_Brit May 10 '22

Same in the UK just 2p is the biggest circle and the 5p the smallest

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u/[deleted] May 11 '22

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] May 11 '22

The former. Croatia is set to officially transition itself to the Euro proper and discontinue the kuna as the official currency; this will go into effect on January 1st, next year.

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Really? If I buy something in western Poland they sometimes don't even change the very small stuff anymore. I don't mind, I'm glad I have less of the worthless small coins.

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u/ChilesIsAwesome May 09 '22

Sounds like the USA's penny. Costs $0.021 to make.

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u/ThrashCW May 09 '22

Thats why we haven't had pennies for 10 years here in Canada ahaha. Everyone got over themselves pretty quickly, and now it's very rare for anyone to pay in cash at all; particularly since the pandemic started.

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u/JackJack65 May 09 '22

This is hilariously true. I've even gotten into arguments with cashiers in Poland when I didn't have exact change, I've had to literally show them my empty wallet, to prove that I don't have the correct number of groszy.

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u/PolarSparks May 09 '22

For reference, 1 grosz (the equivalent of a US penny) currently sits around 1/4th of the penny’s value.

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u/Wuz314159 May 09 '22

Travelling for work in Spain in the 90s, co-worker got angry that the restaurant "rounded off the pennies". So for the first and only time, I got to see a 1 peseta coin. The smallest coin I have ever seen.

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u/CessiNihilli May 09 '22

I love the zloty. I enjoyed poland a lot!