Irish Examiner view: Sweden may scrap hard currency

Sweden’s government is considering moving the country to a digital currency, marking another step into the unknown for the world’s most cashless society

Swedish krona in hard currency may become a thing of the past as the government there considers a move to a cashless society. Picture: iStock

In the relatively short history of this Republic we've changed currencies several times for several reasons. Initially, we aped the imperial pounds-shillings-and-pence of sterling but asserted our independence and gave our currency a name that reflected our enthusiasm for the Irish language — the Saorstát pound. Nevertheless, British coins and banknotes circulated in Ireland until about 50 years ago.

Developments in Sweden raise a question, one that now seems more a matter of timing than anything else. Will there be any hard currencies in circulation in 50 years' time?