Bbc News: Most Worthless Coin And Largest Smallest Coin

The U.S. cent costs more in wasted wages and time PER TRANSACTION than the face value of the coin. That point was made (for other countries), in the BBC news article.

It follows that the Cent might be costing Americans as much 20 cents each or more, to produce and keep it in transactions.

Perhaps the State Taxes system is to be blamed for this, which varies from State to State. The tax is added on at the point of final sale. Rounding (up, in most cases), would still save the U.S. economy as a whole, perhaps billions of dollars per year.

At least that way, each State could still operate it's own tax system without change.

I always thought the Russian 1 copeck (~31 per US cent) was the smallest face value coin ever minted.
As far as I can tell, most of the coins in the BBC list were worth far more when they were minted - but hadn't been minted for a long time; the Russian copeck, however, had last been minted in 2009 (and is still legal tender - and indeed sometimes appears in circulation).
I have a 1 tiyin coin in my collection, by the way; my father got it when he visited Uzbekistan in 1995 (I was on that trip as well, at the age of 3, but of course don't remember anything).

P.S. And wasn't there a famous story about a car offered to anyone who could produce a 1 fils coin in some Persian Gulf country? For some reason I thought it was Bahrain, but a Bahraini fils isn't a ridiculously low-valued coin at all (it's about 0.27 US cents).

Even getting rid of the penny has its own set of costs, check out this article about Canada's recent removal of the penny: http://numismaster.com/ta/numis/Art...icleId=26581

sheeptotherescue: That is a brilliant link!
EVERYBODY should read it.
I feel somewhat justified in the argument I have put forward, but my strongest emotional responses to it are mirth and humility.

I'm fairly sure that the Russian 1 copeck still circulates because I live in Russia and can see it in circulation in fact, I just got one in change six hours ago (dated 2002).
But yes, the Philippine 1 sentimo would probably beat it in terms of smallest face value when minted. Didn't know of that one.

(And the BBC list missed Belarussian 1 ruble coins. Sure, they're all commemorative, and I couldn't possibly imagine a scenario where anyone would pay with these, but, unlike their banknote counterparts, I think they're technically still legal tender - at something like 70 per US cent.)