BOK campaign ends with over 260 mln dormant coins

The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that its campaign to put dormant coins back to use has successfully put more than 260 million coins back into circulation.

In just one month of the recollection campaign in May, people brought out some 267 million coins, worth 36.7 billion won ($31.64 million) in value, to have them changed into banknotes, according to the central bank. The result marks a 1.9-percent increase in the number of reclaimed coins from last year's campaign, and a 1.4-percent rise in their combined value.

The annual campaign is aimed at putting dormant coins back into use.

The BOK said the coins reclaimed this year alone would have cost 22.5 billion won, or over 61 percent of their facial value, to be replaced with new coins.

In 2015 alone, the central bank spent 54 billion won to supply fresh coins.

Amid the growing costs of minting and maintaining coins, the BOK is moving to turn the country into what it calls a coinless society, where small changes will be exchanged online, instead of in coins. (Yonhap)