'Red money' not worth it?

- Norman Grindley

Hundreds of 25c and 10c coins collected from purses, pockets and saving pans.

Klao Bell, Staff Reporter

THE box of chalk that Delores James bought at the Manor Park Pharmacy two Tuesdays ago cost $61.18. But she walked away before the cashier could ring up the 82 cents change to which she was entitled.

"It's just some red money. Sometimes I just can't bother with it. If it was a dollar then I would take it," Ms. James said.

This is the attitude of thousands of Jamaicans who walk away leaving bewildered cashiers holding the combinations of 10c and 25c denominations in their hands.

"It's not money! Who takes them from you?" asked Renee Black-wood, a Manor Park shopper. "Sure you can use it at the supermarkets or banks but it's hard to spend them anywhere else. Once you start counting them out to make up your payment the attitude change and people make up their faces at you," Ms. Blackwood said.

Two weeks ago a cashier at the Sovereign Supermarket argued with a young woman who tried to pay for a box of tea with $37 worth of 10c and 25c coins. The young woman told the cashier that the coins were legal tender and that she was obligated to accept them. And only after a three-minute stand-off did the hesitant cashier start counting out the change.

However, it turns out that young woman had overstepped her bounds. Section 15 of the Bank of Jamaica Act outlines clear conditions under which someone can pay in coins.

If only coins are to be used to pay a bill of $20 or over, the lowest denomination that can be used are one-dollar coins. Similarly, 10c and 25c can only be used to pay a bill of not more than five dollars, if only coins are being used. Also, one cannot use one cent coins to pay for a bill of more than 20c, if only coins are being used.

Jacqueline Morgan, communications director at the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ), said the bank occasionally gets complaints of business places refusing to accept the coins.

"Every now and then people still call to complain that some business places will not accept the lower denomination coins. There are also persons who complain about not getting accurate change from certain business places," Mrs. Morgan said.

Annette McDonnough, manager of Hi-Lo, Manor Park, said customers have complained of not getting accurate change. However, in most cases it is the customer who refuses the change.

"I have got complaints that we don't give back change but we actually try to round off change to the customers' advantage, even though majority of our customers don't want them, " Mrs. McDonnough explained.

On the other hand, a cashier at another supermarket on Constant Spring Road said that people argue with her about their change, though most simply drop the money in the charity cans that are usually placed next to the till.

"Of course, I want them. It's my money, even if I don't use them, I want them back," said supermarket shopper, Beverley Thompson, who said she gives the coins to her grandchildren to play with.

The 10- and 25-cent copper-plated steel monies serve an important function in our economy. The $63.3 million in circulation (as of May 29) are critical in facilitating smooth monetary transactions such as change-making. But, despite the hoarding and discarding of the 'red money', it does not cause a gaping hole in the money supply.

"Once the coins are issued by the Central Bank they are accounted for. If there is any benefit to the hoarding it's that they don't turn over as quickly and the Government doesn't have to deal with the cost of replacing them as frequently as they would other money," explained Claremont Kirton, University of the West Indies (UWI) lecturer in the Department of Economics.

He added, however, that "if those coins were not available then the pricing of products would be affected and it would interrupt smooth economic activity (in terms of making change)."