The schemes of the monas

Let's immediately translate the title for those who don't speak Venetian: “schei” means money, and “mona” is a nice synonym for “stupid”. So yes, we are talking about us Italians. But don't take it personally, at least not right away.

The shocking news

At the end of 2024, Italy decided to shock the world by issuing its first 4 euro legal tender coin. That's right, four. This pearl of numismatic art celebrates 80 years of Coldiretti (yes, the agricultural association). A silver coin, limited edition of 3500 pieces, sold for the modest sum of 69 euros.

Now, I know, you're wondering: What's so strange?

Well, everything. Italy, demonstrating that it can issue money, shot itself in the foot with a series of decisions that only we can define as "mona".

Reasons why we are monas

1. Collectible face value
   Thanks to the 2023 Finance Law (art. 1, paragraph 55), Italy can issue coins with face values ​​from 0.25 up to 1000 euros. Yet, for some mysterious reason, the 4 euro was chosen. Why not a higher value, perhaps close to the selling price? A 100 euro would have attracted tourists and collectors, also offering a guarantee of future revaluation.

Question of the day: Why don't we dare with higher facial values?

2. Precious metals (or not)
   Collectible coins can be minted in any metal, from precious (such as gold and silver) to the cheapest (such as bronzital and cupronickel, used in 2018 for the 5 euro Amatrice coin). But no, we opt for silver, spending 18 grams of the metal which today costs around 1 euro per gram wholesale and 1.3 euros per gram retail (23 euros in raw material alone).

Question of the Day 2: Why not use less expensive metals?

3. The ridiculous print runs
   Germany, which evidently knows a lot, issues 5 and 10 euro coins in non-precious metals, with runs of millions of pieces. Us? We are on 5 million euros in total compared to 200 million in Germany.

Question of Day 3: Why don't we increase print runs to lower costs?

3. The answer that makes you feel even more “mona”
   We asked the Ministry of Economy and Finance for explanations. The answer? A mix between the comic and the tragic: “For 2025, the issuance of collector coins with high face value is not planned.” But then, why authorize them in the financial law? Then, the masterpiece: “Coins with high face value have a low demand due to the high price, which includes:

• Mint production costs;
• Remuneration of the Mint;
• Intrinsic value of the metal;
• Nominal value to be paid to the MEF;
• 2% royalty on the sale price;
• VAT at 22%.”Now, it would be enough to mint in non-precious metal, increase the circulation, lower costs and imitate Germany to make everything more sensible. But no, too easy.

Question of the day 4: Why not imitate Germany , avoiding financial damage to the State?

Conclusion: who is the real “mona”?

The sad truth is that those who govern us, out of ignorance or interest (take your pick), seem to do everything except the interests of Italians. But, ultimately, sovereignty belongs to the people, right?

So the final question remains: who is the real mona?

Fabio Conditi
President of the Moneta Positiva association
http://monetapositiva.it/
Cultural movement A Positive World
https://unmondopositivi.it/
where you can find books and courses to become aware

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The article Gli schema dei mona comes from Scenari Economici .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/gli-schei-dei-mona/ on Fri, 10 Jan 2025 14:36:10 +0000.