Cashing in on the $5 Balboa

 Ten thousand copies of the  new Panamanian  Balboa coin, . were bought by a German company  for sale to collectors in Europe and the coins are  sold on EBay for $5.

The  information comes from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) which on Tuesday, March 6, responded to critics of the coins. minted in Canada where they  have $1 and $2 coins.

Panama’s new addition to the currency, which is equivalent to one US dollar.  has been in circulation since May 2011.

Jose Ramon Fernandez of the Procurement and Contracting Unit of the MEF, said that Panama has not seen the success of the currency. In less than a year after the launch of the balboa, it is sold on the auction site Ebay for $5 through dealers based in Buenos Aires, Israel,  and theUnited States. The Balboa coinage cost nearly $ 10 million and produced a minting profit  of $30 million which  entered the coffers of the Treasury. 

The government also points out that the coins are more cost effective outlast paper bills.

The introduction of the dollar coin in Canada (now called a loonie), saw the withdrawal of the dollar note, and the  $2 coin (a toonie) saw the end of the $2 bill. In Panama, US $1 bills are used as change alongside the Balboa.