Due to rising costs of metals and minting, a five-agorot coin actually costs the bank 16 agorot to produce.
By YONI TEITZ5 agorot88 298(photo credit: )
After a new survey shows most Israelis see no use for it, the Bank of Israel announced Monday that it has requested that the government approve removing the five-agorot coin from circulation.
In addition to the Dahaf Institute survey, which revealed that 80 percent of the Israeli public support the move and other studies that show reluctance among companies that deal regularly in cash to accept the coin, the central bank estimates savings of NIS 1.7million from its elimination.
Due to rising costs of metals and minting, a five-agorot coin actually costs the bank 16 agorot to produce. The central bank has explored the option of switching to a less costly metal, but found that even with the cheapest metal available, the cost of the coin would still only drop to six agorot. If metal prices continue to rise, and the gap between the face value and the material value of the coin widens enough, the central bank said it fears the coin will simply be melted down for metal.
The move still must be approved by the government and the Knesset Finance Committee, and after a one-year transition period, the Bank of Israel would then cancel the coin as legal tender. At that time, cash prices would be rounded to the nearest 10 agorot.
The move to cancel the five-agorot coin follows an announcement earlier this month that the Bank will issue new two-shekel coins by year-end, a decision that also was based on public surveys.
Israel has had a five-agorot coin since 1960.
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
