5p

The best thing about a blog is that you can write about anything. It could be a major news item; it could be something that matters to you but few others; or it could be something that, in the grand scheme of things, is incredibly insignificant. This is one of those blogs.

This blog is about 5p coins. Yes, 5p coins.

Why? Because I tend to keep hold of loose change in the event of needing to use it. Sure, I have a bank card and I use notes, but it’s the miniscule amounts of money that can get you a chocolate bar, a newspaper or a loaf of bread. Okay, notes can do that too, but that’s not the point.

The point is that, when searching through my change in terms of what money I need, I pick out the coins that I’ll need the most. In other words, the coins that matter most; the coins that will be most useful to me. And the coins I rarely pick are 5ps. Because they’re the least useful coins of all.

Think about it. A 1p coin has its uses; after all, when purchasing something for £4.99 or £9.99, you always get a 1p back, so a supermarket needs 1p coins. And, thanks to Deal Or No Deal, possessing/claiming 1p has a slight level of prestige. So, they’re useful.

A 2p coin is useful for kids: if you’ve ever been to an arcade, you’ll have seen the 2p machines, right? It doesn’t matter that whatever money you win is wasted by being put back into the machine, thereby ensuring that, most of the time, you end up with nothing. Two pence pieces are popular, so they are useful.

A 10p coin? Some arcades have 10p machines, but their main use, to me, is this: very rarely will you find an item on sale in a newsagent for less than 10p. There are, however, items that cost around 15p, 17p etc. So, a 10p can help to partially cover these costs.

As for 20p coins? They’re good for just about anything, really. Whether it’s for calling from a phone box, buying a newspaper or getting a Freddo, 20ps tend to either cover the cost of little things, contribute to the purchase of, well, slightly bigger things, or make up the amount of stuff that costs an awkward amount of money. Ever been shopping where it’s come to £7.37? A few 20ps will ensure you’re not rummaging through your bag or pocket (assuming you’ve already paid the 7 quid, of course).

Then, you have 50p coins, £1 and £2 coins. They’re obviously useful, as they can pay for anything of a reasonable size. Notes of £5, £10, £20 and £50 will pay for the more expensive days out at Lidl. And your bank card will cover anything above that (unless you’re in more debt than Greece).

But what about 5ps? It’s only occasionally that you get just 5p back after shopping, and it isn’t a value on Deal Or No Deal. There aren’t any 5p machines in arcades (well, not that I’ve seen, anyway). Very rarely will you get items on sale for 5p in a newsagent’s (and if it is, it’s probably some sort of sweet that’s not in a packet and, thus, won’t exactly be the top choice for a Cadbury’s selection pack at Christmas). Some phone boxes and other things like pool tables, parking meters etc don’t accept 5ps. And the chance of you dropping a load of 5ps on a shop counter to get a few bottles of water and super-size packets of Wotsits – well, it’s unlikely. The coins aren’t even that big; their very shape ensures that they come across as miniscule in value.

Some would disagree, since a few 5ps will contribute to the purchase of a Freddo or the Liverpool Echo. Generally speaking, though, you have to say that a 5p coin has the least number of uses and, thus, is the one I leave aside when going out to do a bit of spending.

But, then again . . . I can think of one, very good use for 5p coins. In fact, as far as I know, no other coin besides a 5p has done this until now. I’m talking about filling up blog space.

Because the subject of whether or not a 5p has its uses in comparison to other coins has given me the opportunity to write a blog about something that is incredibly insignificant.

I now consider 5ps to be very useful.