Treasury officials have for the first time ordered no new coins to be minted for general circulation, putting the future of the 1p and 2p pieces in doubt.
The government has not placed an annual order with the Royal Mint and does not expect to order any new 1p and 2p coins in the coming years, the Evening Standard reported.
Treasury officials are reported to be considering a number of options including scrapping those coins altogether as the use of cash declines across society.
A spokesperson for HM Treasury told the Standard: “The Royal Mint produces coins according to expected demand, existing buffer stocks and orders placed by industry.
“We are confident there are enough coins in the system, with estimates of approximately 27bn in circulation in the UK. The Treasury has no current plans to change the mix of UK coins.”
Proposals over the future of 1p and 2p are expected to be put forward for discussions with ministers.
Britain’s currency decimalisation was introduced in 1971 when Edward Heath was prime minister.
A coin has not been taken out of circulation in the UK since the half-penny was removed in 1984.
New 2p coins have not been minted since 2021, according to the most recent figures from the Royal Mint, while none were made between 2018 and 2020.
The Royal Mint said in a statement: “The Royal Mint’s core purpose is to make UK coins, and we continue to work closely with the Treasury to meet demand from UK cash centres.”
Under new rules being introduced by the UK’s financial watchdog, banks and building societies shutting branches will need to do more to make sure people can still access cash.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said its plans would come into effect on 18 September.
The new powers will not prevent the closure of bank branches but will require them to ensure they are plugging significant gaps in local cash access.
The FCA said research had found that 3 million people on average still rely on cash, with lower-income households disproportionately likely to be excluded from digital services and more reliant on cash.
Sheldon Mills, the FCA’s executive director of consumers and competition, said: “Many small businesses still need somewhere to safely deposit their takings each day. That’s why we’ve acted quickly in response to new powers given to us by parliament to ensure reasonable access to cash withdrawal and deposits is maintained.”
