Is this the end of the five cent piece?

Speculation is rife that the Turnbull Government's first Budget could sound the death knell for Australia's five cent piece.

The Royal Australian Mint revealed during a Senate Estimates hearing in 2014 that it actually cost six cents to produce the five cent piece.

"It is actually in decline, which is why it is probably an appropriate time for us to be doing a review," Mint chief executive Ross MacDiarmid said at the time.

The possible discontinuation of the silver coin was again raised on the five cent piece's 50th anniversary in February.

"We’ve seen a halving of the demand for five cent pieces over the past five years and our expectation is that it will just simply progress," Mr MacDiarmid said at the time.

"It’s lost its utility; it will lose interest from the public."

Retailers across Australia will need to change their cash-charge pricing structures if Tuesday's budget kills off the five cent piece.

Gone will be the days of the age-old marketing trick of reducing five cents to make an item appear cheaper in advertising.

Australia's one and two cent pieces were discontinued in 1990 due to the rising cost of producing such low currency denominations.

With the move to cashless payments and proliferation of payment options, including tap-and-go and Apple Pay, the future of physical currency is looking grim.

The Abbott government had flagged privatising the mint, along with Australia Post, in 2014.

Getting rid of currencies that cost more to produce than they are worth could potentially be part of a plan to make the Mint more attractive for investment.