MAS proposes new legal tender limit for coins

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Thursday said it plans to set a 10 coins per denomination limit.

This means a payer can use up to 10 pieces each of five-cent, 10-cent, 20-cent, 50-cent and one-dollar coins per transaction.

For example, a payee may legally refuse to accept 20 pieces of five-cent coins for payment of S$1, but he is obliged to accept the payment if the payer uses 10 pieces of five-cent coins and five pieces of 10-cent coins.

This would change the limit now under the Currency Act.

At this point, for denominations of less than 50 cents, payers can only pay in coins for up to S$2. This means a payee is obliged to accept up to 40 pieces of five-cent coins, 20 pieces of 10-cent coins and 10 pieces of 20-cent coins per transaction.

MAS said this followed the two cases in 2014 on the use of coins for payment of large amounts. "Following these reports, some members of the public expressed the need to place a legal tender limit on one-dollar coins to prevent similar abuses," said MAS. It is calling for public feedback on the proposal.