Is this the beginning of the end for 1p and 2p coins? The British isle that says ’round up’

The Isle of Man has become the first part of the British Isles to encourage businesses to round prices to the nearest five pence amid the declining use of coppers.

The Crown Dependency stopped minting Manx pennies and two pence pieces in 2016 due to the spiralling cost of production and the increasingly cashless society.

The island’s currency, the Manx pound, is not legal tender in the UK, but sterling coins and notes are accepted there.

Now the Isle of Man Treasury has told local traders to think about rounding payments ‘to the nearest five pence’ as it prepares for small change to gradually disappear from circulation altogether.

This follows a similar measure brought into place in Sweden in 1972 and is commonly used in New Zealand and Canada.

Although this will not be a compulsory measure for the Isle of Man, firms have been encouraged to implement the policy on their receipts.

Dr Alex Allinson MHK, treasury minister for the Isle of Man, said: ‘As the cost of minting one pence and two pence coins is greater than their value, there are no plans to produce any more.

‘Businesses should therefore start thinking about how this may affect them and plan for when the number in circulation falls to a point that requires them to start rounding to the nearest five pence on a voluntary basis.’

It comes after a consultation, which ran between May and June this year, found a majority of the 1,050 island residents who responded were against scrapping the small value coin entirely.

A system of rounding transactions to the nearest ten pence was also rejected and the one pence, two pence and five pence coins will not be withdrawn after the feedback from residents.

Respondents raised concerns that cash rounding would impact society’s most vulnerable, who are most likely to use cash.

As the UK becomes an increasingly cashless society, some have questioned a similar move may be adopted by Westminster.

The UK government spokesperson said: ‘We have no current plans to change the denominational mix of UK coins.’