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Living with the Euro (Size Counts)

© Sara Dellinger

After a year getting psyched up for Europe's new and unique currency, the famous Euro is here. After a month of trial, I give it three cheers and a raspberry. The three cheers go out for having finally arrived at such a level of friendly cooperation between countries that a unique currency can be spent on the streets of Paris, a café in Vienna or at a bullring in Spain. The raspberry is for the lack of thought given to the physical attributes of the coins. Here is my "two cents worth".

Of what use is a coin worth 2 cents, or, for that matter, a 20-cent coin? For me, extra, intermediary value coins only confuse the matter. Isn't that ridiculous? And it doesn't stop there. After two weeks using the new currency, I ended up with a change purse filled with 1, 2, 5,10, 20, and 50 cent coins. Several of them are about the same size and color. To top off this mess, the 1 Euro-cent coin is so small (smaller and thinner than a dime), that it disappears to the bottom corners of even the most sophisticated change purse. In some cases, size does count.

Maybe the Great Deciders thought they were making math easier for cashiers with all this redundancy. Maybe they just didn't think about how impractical this would be for the everyday shopper. Welcome to Europe, I hope you don't mind the longer lines at the supermarket (unless you're behind someone using their charge card) and a sack full of tiny, doll-sized, useless coins.

I heard a rumor that officials are already talking about doing away with the 1 cent coin. But this doesn't seem like the best solution, as prices would be in strictly even numbers. The rounding off would certainly mean rounding up when the price changes went into effect.

A better idea would be to get rid of the 2 cent pieces and replace the 1 cent pieces with a coin the size of the present 2 cent pieces (it's about the size of an American or Canadian cent, but slightly lighter). They can ditch the 20-cent pieces, which I consider redundant, considering that two 10-cent pieces work just as well. Americans have gotten by for generations with 4 commonly used coins: the penny (1-cent), the nickel (5 cents), the dime (10 cents) and quarter (25 cents). Of all the American coins in circulation, the quarter is my favorite: from vending machines to phone booths to slot machines, the quarter has so many wonderful and legendary uses! I'd rather spend two quarters than one bulky American 50-cent piece.

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