It will surprise no one that, with the rise of cashless payments and digital transactions, the production of coins has been dwindling for a decade. Until now.
The Royal Australian Mint has recorded a mysterious rise in demand for its cash in the past year, and distrust of modern technology in tighter economic times is a likely cause.
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How to use five cents
Some useful ways to use up your collection of five cent coins.
According to new figures, the mint sent more than 247 million coins into circulation in the 2015-16 financial year. The $140 million value of this cash was the largest in six years. In 2014-15, it was down at $106 million from a high of $169 million in 2005-06.
The organisation's annual report notes an "unexpected surge in demand for circulating coins in Australia with revenue exceeding budget by 24 per cent". Demand fell 25 per cent in the three years to 2015.
The chief executive of the mint, Ross MacDiarmid, says there are two reasons behind the change: one is corrections to disruptions in supply; the other is greater demand for the security, trustworthiness and anonymity of hard cash when people feel uncertain about economic conditions.
"This is the banks' view of the world – not necessarily ours: that in tougher economic conditions, money is tighter and people are trying to save and perhaps they are moving to the use of cash as an alternative," he said.
A strong body of research shows people spend more when using cards rather than cash. The tangibility of coins and notes causes people to be more budget-conscious.
"If there's something you want to buy, it's a lot easier to use the credit card because it almost doesn't feel real," Mr MacDiarmid said.
"We are still, over the longer term, trending down. And I would also make the point that we are expecting to see some sort of correction in the 2016/17 financial year, and we are seeing a bit of that already."
Steve Worthington, adjunct professor at Swinburne University, said people were being more disciplined in paying off credit card debt, and note production – handled by the Reserve Bank – continued to grow, although smaller denominations were slowing.
"People are realising there might be hard times to come and trying to reduce the amount of money that they spend on a credit card and perhaps use more cash," he said.
"There is speculation that people are holding cash because [with low interest rates] there is no margin in saving it in a bank account.
"I also get a sense that, with harder economic times, people like to have some cash with them just in case, as a comfort factor – almost putting it under the mattress."
He also noted that NAB experienced nationwide system outages affecting internet banking and potentially customers' trust.
There is speculation that the decline in cash will eventually plateau after some demographics complete their digital conversion but older people stick with cash, with some of its functions remaining relevant.
Even the doomed five cent coin, which the mint expects to "die a natural death" within five to 10 years, experienced a small boost last year, although production remains at a fraction of former levels.
Recently, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull suggested a Tasmanian Liberal Party motion to abolish the smallest denomination had made a "fair point".
Overall, there are about 5 billion coins and 1.3 billion banknotes in circulation.