Hungarian media: too expensive Hungarian forint coin may be withdrawn

Minting a HUF 5 coin is more expensive than its value, so a Hungarian political party regularly submits a parliament resolution draft to withdraw it from the market and sell the collected amount as metal. Here is how the Hungarian National Bank answered the questions of HVG, a Hungarian news outlet, concerning the issue. In Hungary, only the Hungarian National Bank can withdraw a coin, the Hungarian Parliament can only submit a bid for action.

Expensive forint coin might be withdrawn?

According to HVG, the lowest Hungarian forint denomination, the HUF 5 coin is probably more expensive to mint than its value. Since Donald Trump decided to ditch the 1-cent coin for money-saving reasons, HVG wanted to know whether the Hungarian National Bank would follow the American president’s example.

They wrote that, currently, there are 3,625 tonnes of coins circulating in the market, so it would not be easy to collect them. Even so, Jobbik, a Hungarian opposition party, which lost a lawmaker just today, regularly submits a draft resolution to the Hungarian Parliament to ditch the HUF 5 coins. In March 2008, the Hungarian National Bank withdrew the HUF 1 and 2 coins from the market.

The Hungarian National Bank disagrees

However, the Hungarian National Bank does not plan to withdraw the HUF 5 coins because the traffic data concerning the coin suggests stable use. There are no reasons for an urgent withdrawal, the institution added. However, the MNB did not tell how much it costs to mint the HUF 5 coins, referring to trade secrets. HVG suggested in their article that it is more expensive than its value.