It wasn't that long ago.
There was a time in Argentina when we waited for
change
coins .
We were angry that in the Chinese supermarket they compensated them with candy.
Today we prefer caramel.
But it will not arrive, because
it surpasses in value
his old job as a substitute.
In the rise of virtual wallets - and with President Javier Milei, who ratified his idea of dollarizing the economy -, carrying “small money” is perceived as
dead weight
.
Inflation makes all cash voluminously annoying.
But it is much worse if that presence
weighs.
Coffee machines, soda machines, building
laundry machines
, and stuffed animal machines don't want coins .
This entire area was moved to tokens or payment with QR.
If one appears on the floor, it is more
expensive
to bend down than pick it up.
Where are the coins?
A
round
exercise checks its extinction: ask whoever is next to you
'Do you have a coin?'
.
There will be no surprise.
They are not even in the warehouses.
Not even at service stations.
Not even in the tip jars.
Not even in the caps of street artists.
The failed auction of the Central Bank, overstocking of coins.
Except for the $10 ones, which may be seen in newsstands or supermarket chains, it would be exotic to see a $1, $2 or $5 one in an already legendary purse.
Not to mention the $0.25 and $0.50 cents.
Those of $0.05 and $0.01 are a fetish of
numismatics
.
But they have
to be somewhere
.
Although they have changed shape.
The thing is that melted and depending on their composition, per kilo they are worth up to
30 times
more than their monetized value.
The end of
a
peso
As
Clarín
was able to confirm ,
coins are no longer manufactured at Casa de Moneda
.
Overstocked with these metals, at least since March 2021 when the Central Bank decided not to mint a single more,
They had already stopped the production of all the rest and were focused on the "new", $10 ones, which were launched alongside the $5 ones between the end of 2017 and December 2018, with
cheaper materials
.
The ten peso coin is a silver nickel alloy, 65% copper, 10% nickel and 25% zinc.
It weighs 4.75 grams.
With the advance of inflation, Argentine currencies lost value to the point of being unusable.
Photo: Shutterstock
Since just one of these is not enough to buy a product, something that has been happening for a long time and has gotten worse was highlighted: making them
is much more expensive
than their face (nominal) value: it costs between US$0.03 and US$0.05. .
And that people only want them to sell them by the kilo to metal companies.
Although it is prohibited by law 11,179.
Even the Central Bank was on the verge of violating that law, in 2022, when it put almost a ton of coins up for
auction
"to be immediately destroyed", for an initial figure of US$3.5 million ($522 million at the exchange rate). official at that time).
But he backed away, without explaining.
The blooper remained an anecdote.
Who gives more?
(
for something that is worth less and less)
Beyond Mercado Libre, where the "Buy by the kilo" is run by the owners of metal storage and/or smelting warehouses, the Facebook groups where they offer to sell them became true
virtual coin auctions
.
"I have 35 kilos of bicolor (the oldest $1 and $2 ones) and 15 of bronze. How much do they pay when withdrawing from the Central Market?"
Megan's publication (one of the highest volumes) started at
"I'll pay you $4,700 per kilo"
, rose to
$170,000 ($4,857 per kilo)
and reached
"$200,000 and I'll pick you up" ($5,714 per kilo)
.
"Until Monday there are no fixed prices...metals are on the decline," another user warned in a publication that offered: "80 kilos of nickel and 90 of bronze."
Ivan - who comments in all groups - bet on winning with
"$6,100 per kilo of
crop
(cruponickel: copper and nickel) and
$4,400 for bronze
."
Leo provides information for novice sellers: "They buy the $1 and $2 two-color ones, the 25 and 50 cent gold and silver ones. And in general they pick up at home for 400 or more coins, there is no need to stack them and put Scotch tape on them."
"I buy the 25 and 50 cent ones for $11 each, the $1 peso gold and silver one for $12, the $2 one for $13. For the $10 one I pay $16, and at least, I buy 500 units. Yes No, no," Brenda explains to
Clarín
.
These groups exist because warehouses and small metallurgical companies do not accept "a couple of coins," says the buyer.
So, those who pay in coins "seek
to make a quantity
and only take them there."
Diego, who has a scrap yard in Palomar, is demanding: "I only buy $1 and $2 two-color coins. From $5,100 per kilo, wholesale price, from 100 kilos. And I don't pick up at home."
From yapa, in these communities you learn curious facts (which are useful for those interested): "Let's see what the topic is like...for the new ones: in a kilo
there are
158 $1 coins, and between 140 and 142 $2 coins pesos weigh a kilo".
Pelf
"
We minted every month.
It depended on the demand from the banks. Today you don't see coins on the street.
It is not a question of class.
They are not enough for anything. I would tell you that
the banks no longer handle coins
," he tells
Clarín
Augusto Ardiles, former director of the Mint during the government of Mauricio Macri.
Manufacturing the $1, $2 and $5 or $10 ones and distributing them throughout the country, he describes, "is substantially more expensive than the value they represent."
How much would each coin cost to make today?
And what is the most expensive thing about making them?
“The cost of the material is at the official dollar price.
But what it is estimated that it costs to make each coin is only the value of the coin and minting it (as is done with the Mint machines, it is in pesos and that does not make them more expensive).
Then you have to add the value of
logistics
, which is very variable, depending on whether you have to send them to CABA and the GBA or if you have to send them to Salta,” explains Ardiles.
Given how expensive
logistics
is , in addition to the transfer, machines are necessary to raise and lower the drums of the trucks.
And its maintenance.
The Central Bank also decided to stop returning to circulation the two-color $1 coins that come into its hands.
The procedure in the metal factory that was closed.
“The Central Bank, which is going to launch the $10,000 and $20,000 bills, should already issue
a board resolution
to normalize what happens with the currencies.
To say that as of that date all coins, and the $10 and $20 bills, go out of circulation, and no one wants them either,” says the economist, who is also a lawyer.
Once out of legal circulation, he explains, "the Central Bank can sell these currencies for their lag value, which is the value of the metallic price."
In this line of normalizing the monetary cone, Ardiles suggests "starting to work on the
50,000 and 100,000 peso
bills , so that they can be in circulation in the middle or end of the year, or at the beginning of next year."
Propose something else.
“Replace $50, $100 and $500 bills with coins, which do not necessarily have to be metal.
They can be
electrodeposited
, so that they are more economical and have no value in their foundry.
They have a slightly shorter durability, but, unfortunately, for the durability periods that we have in Argentina, plus the inflation that we are going to have for the next four years, it seems to me to be the most appropriate decision.”
According to the latest official data from that entity, which twice a month reports on the circulation of coins and banknotes in the public and in banks, a total of
9,738 million coins
are listed .
They are
199.8 million of $10
,
401 million of $5
,
1,025 million of $2
, 1,964 million of $1, 747.5 million of $0.50, 1,008 of $0.25, 2,713 of $0.10, 1,272 of $0.05 , and 406 of $0.01.
“That this circulation remains almost unchanged (since 2020) tells you that the currencies that the Central Bank had overstocked, it still has,” Ardiles closes.
P.S.