Ireland was just the latest country to stop using these tiny coins as it costs more or just as much to make them as their face value, joining countries such as Belgium, Sweden, Holland, Finland and Denmark.


The confederation chairman, João Vieira Lopes, told Lusa that “it is becoming customary to round prices up or down” when shopping so getting rid of these coins wouldn’t have much effect on traders or consumers.


“Shops are also using much more plastic so the difference would be irrelevant”, he added.


In 2014, Portugal minted 40 million of these coins but did not say how much it cost to do so.