What is wrong with using coins?

Getting change for a candy at the supermarket, getting a few extra onions at the market, small change seems cheap but causes trouble at BOT toll stations... Few people know that money is national sovereignty.

Small change, which must be new money, is on the rise because in recent years the State Bank has not had a policy of printing more, from the 5,000 VND, 2,000 VND and smaller denominations of 1,000 VND, 500 VND...

And that limitation means that the supply is no longer available, so small change becomes valuable, especially during the holidays. You have to pay a fee to exchange small change.

The 5,000 VND, smaller 2,000 VND and 1,000 VND notes are still commonly used, including the 500 VND note.

200 dong notes are rarely seen. Sometimes, in supermarkets, cashiers still use them for change, but usually they just ignore them. The 100 dong note seems to have disappeared from the checkout counters, it seems like it is only left somewhere by collectors.

So, the value of these bills is not in their face value but in their rarity due to the policy of limiting the printing of additional small bills.

Partly because of the production cost, printing a small coin is much more expensive than printing large denominations. For example, a few years ago, printing a 500 VND note cost 3-4 times more than the face value.

For example, just not printing new coins during Tet from 2013 to 2017 saved the budget 1,500 billion VND, according to the State Bank.

As for coins, the market has long seemed to have unspokenly rejected them, even though there has been no written confirmation that these coins are no longer a means of payment.

Very little change is used as a means of payment, some change is used in festival activities, Tet...

Only when Tet comes, small change proves its role when money changers charge high prices and people need it to spend, from lucky money to the custom of scattering money at temples and pagodas...

And now, the return to using small change as a means of payment at BOT toll stations from Cai Lay (Tien Giang), Bien Hoa (Dong Nai), Ben Thuy (Vinh)...

Even though drivers were invited to the police station to "learn about their thoughts", the war over small change at BOT toll stations shows no sign of stopping.

So what is wrong with using small change?

According to Associate Professor Dr. Vo Tri Hao, to affirm national sovereignty, states not only call for recognition of independence from the international community, but the issuance of national currency is one of the manifestations of national sovereignty, along with the national name and national flag.

Therefore, Vietnam, like many other countries, has sanctions against acts of destroying national currency and refusing to accept payments in national currency within the national territory.

According to Mr. Hao, previously the 1985 Penal Code considered the act of currency destruction a crime, but now the State has a policy of softening this sanction and punishing administrative violations.

"Big money and small money are all national currencies, no one is allowed to refuse to accept small change. Therefore, if people refuse to accept small change, the ones who need to be punished are supermarkets, toll stations, etc., not the payer," said Mr. Hao.

According to this legal expert, paying with small change at BOT toll stations like Cai Lay does cause immediate indirect consequences such as traffic congestion.

"But legally, citizens and businesses are allowed to do anything that is not prohibited by law, and current law does not have any document prohibiting payment in small change," Mr. Hao commented.

According to TTO