I must admit that in the 9 or so months I have been in the Netherlands, I have never seen a 1 euro cent piece, much less used one.
But a few days ago I found one:
1 euro cent, 5 euro cents, and an American quarter (25 cents), for size comparison
It was actually in my wallet, of all places. I guess I was given it as change. It’s quite possible that I received it while I was in Dublin’s airport waiting for the flight home. It’s actually quite tiny – much smaller than the euro 5 cent piece.
But I’ve never seen it in use in the Netherlands. I’ve seen a few signs saying that it isn’t accepted at certain stores, but that’s the only reference to it. The reason the 1 cent piece isn’t used here is because when you pay with cash, the prices are rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents. If you use your debit card, then you pay the exact price.
Life in the Hague 
I’ve been giventhem as change in Amsterdam. I’m not really sure what to do withthem, so I have mine ina jar on the windowsill. When the jar is full, I’ll take it to the bank 🙂
I hope that is the last one that I see, but I doubt it. 😉 They don’t seem to be that popular in The Hague, at least at the places I go…
We have so many 1 & 2 cent pieces! Besides trying to figure out quirky nicknames that never catch on for them, we have no idea what to do with them…buy ice cream?
Boy I am glad I don’t see too many of them. Though ice cream does sound nice!
I was going through an old box of odds and ends that I brought with me and came across a few 1 cent coins mixed in with some other coins from other countries. I think the ones I have are left over from a trip to Italy during the official change to the euro. I don’t think I’ve received any since actually living here.